


See My Face & Speak My Name

by SydneyF



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Last Jedi
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Armitage Hux is a Jerk, Awesome Leia Organa, Darker Than I Honestly Expected, Emperor Kylo Ren, Empress Rey, F/M, First Order Politics, I married a Space Nazi, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Let's Make Fun of Hux Like Constantly, My First AO3 Post, Renperor, Stormtrooper Culture, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-06 20:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 61,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15202799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydneyF/pseuds/SydneyF
Summary: Love can redeem you. Love can destroy you. Whatever happens after Rey takes Kylo's hand in the ruined throne room, this is not going to go the way you think.TLJ AU where Rey accepts Ben Solo's offer. Sure, it’s a love story — but the real question is, can Rey change Kylo Ren and the First Order faster than they change her? The road to hell is paved with good intentions and greased with rationalizations that sound so good at the time... A chronically snarky deconstruction of "Rey and Ben LOVE each other so they'll have their ups and downs but ultimately everything will be fine," because, sorry, love isn't all you need.Chapter 1 is how the ending of The Last Jedi changes for better and for worse. As of Chapter 2, we spiral off into strange and scary territory (here be OCs). Now complete as of Chapter 6.





	1. The Gloves Come Off

            Afterward -- long afterward -- Rey wondered whether she'd have made the same choice if Ben had kept his gloves on. She'd been so delicately balanced between light and dark, so desperately torn between desire and fear.... On such small things, sometimes, the fate of galaxies depends.

            "You have no place in this story, you come from nothing," Ben Solo -- Kylo Ren -- _Ben_ had told her, his tone as gentle as his words were crushing. " _You're_ nothing....but not to me." He held out his gloved hand. It shook slightly. "Join me."

            She just stared back at him, at the sensitive face that was the only exposed humanity in all his armored blackness.

            "Please," he said, trembling on the brink himself.

            Her universe narrowed to that outstretched hand, hidden in that black leather gauntlet that reminded her of the masked monster she'd first met. His eyes followed hers, saw what she seeing, somehow understood it.

            He ripped off his gloves and threw them to the deck, then reached out to her again. Both hands this time. Bare. Human. "No armor between us, Rey," he whispered desperately. "No mask. No lies. You've seen my face, you know my name...."

            "Ben...."

            He winced, then nodded. "If you say so."

            She took his hand.

            Just one hand, gingerly, but as soon as their skin touched, it felt like an electric current flowing, like magnets clicking together. He _needed_ her. She'd never been needed this way, never, certainly not as a scavenger on Jakku, not even in the Resistance. Not with Ben's dark, intoxicating hunger.

            "If I join you, Ben...."

            "Anything. Anything in the galaxy."

            "...then you'll spare the Resistance fl...."

            "NO!" It felt like a blow, how fast he could switch from whispers to shouting. His free hand clenched into a fist but the other didn't let go of her. "LET GO! The past...."

            "If you don't care about the past, why do you have to kill them?" she shouted back. "If you're truly free -- of Snoke, of Luke, your parents -- then let them go. Let go of _them_!"

            "No," he said in a strange half-growl, half-sob.

            His hand was shaking so hard she had to take it in both of hers to steady it. When he'd calmed a fraction, she looked him in the eye and said, as coldly as she could manage: "Or are you just a boy who's afraid to face his _mother_?"

            Kylo Ren _screamed_.

            He wrenched free from her hands and doubled over, punching himself in the head with both hands. The sounds of agony he made were nothing like words.

            Had he snapped for good? "Ben!"

            He froze and stared at her, imploring.

            "Ben," she said, "I'll be with you."

            Ben nodded, drew himself erect, and staggered over to the viewer displaying the rapidly dwindling rebel fleet. He pressed a button on its side.

            <Supreme Leader,> an arrogant voice oozed from the intercom, <the Resistance scum are almost....>

            "This is Kylo Ren," Ben rasped. "Cease fire."

            A pause.

            <I beg your pardon?>

            "Cease fire," Ben said more forcefully. "You've killed quite enough of them, Hux. We need prisoners for interrogation."

            "Interrogation?" Rey whispered. "I don't want them tortured...."

            <Ah, could I speak to Supreme Leader Snoke to confirm....>

            "Hux, I'm calling you _from the throne room_. Do you really think he's not...."

            <No, ignore the cruiser, it's empty.>

            "What?" Ben said, genuinely puzzled. He shot a glance at Rey. She shrugged. They both looked at the viewer, where the largest surviving Resistance ship was turning.

            <Sorry, Ren, the captain was asking me.... What _now_? Can't you see I'm talking to.... >

            The Resistance ship was turning _towards_ them.

            <CONCENTRATE ALL FIRE ON THAT SHIP!> Hux screamed.

            The viewer went white.

            Everything went white.

            White and silent.

            Rey floated, bodiless, in nothing for an infinite instant.

            Thousands of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

            She cried out, too.

            Then she was back in her body, back in the throne room, face-down on the deck with Ben on top of her.

            "What...what...what...?" she managed. She tried to shove him off but he resisted. She realized belatedly he'd thrown himself on top of her to protect her, though she wasn't sure from what. He was alarmingly heavy, pinning her down.

            "They rammed us," Ben said hoarsely. "At lightspeed."

            "That isn't .... can't this ship _evade_?"

            "It's sixty klicks wide."

            "Oh."

            "And the voices -- did you hear...?"

            "There are more than two million people on this ship," Ben said. "There _were_."

            "Oh, no." She hugged the part of him she could reach, which in their current position was his right arm and a bit of the shoulder. He felt so warm and solid and comforting it made her a little sick, thinking about what she was feeling when thousands of people nearby would never feel anything again. She jerked her hands away. "Please let me up."

            He helped her up. She didn't need him to but she let him do it.

            "Think how many died when Luke Skywalker blew up the first Death Star," Ben said, handing her back her lightsaber. "Think how many when Han S... when _my father_ helped blow up the second."

            "I--I hadn't thought of that," Rey whispered, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the burning hull of the _Supremacy_. She clipped the saber back on her belt.

            "Think of Starkiller base," he said. "The friends you want to save have killed so many."

            "But they didn't blow up _inhabited_ _planets_."

            "I'm just saying both sides have blood on their hands."

            She squeezed _his_ hands. "I’m on _your_ side, Ben."

            "Thank you." He paused. "Rey, I -- I -- I love..."

            "What _happened_?"

            It was the man from the intercom again -- Hugs? Hocks? Except this time he wasn't on the intercom, he was physically present: a tall, pasty redhead in a black uniform, oozing arrogance as he stepped out of the turbolift.

            "We were rammed, Hux," Ben said calmly.

            "I _know_ that. But...." Hux stared wildly around the wreckage of the room. "Why are the guards dead? Where is...." He went white as he saw the bisected corpse next to the throne. "Why is the _Supreme Leader_ dead?" His eyes locked on Rey and widened. "Why is _she_ here? Why isn't she _restrained_? Why is she _armed_?"

            Hux went for the blaster pistol Rey had only just now noticed at his belt. She grabbed for her lightsaber to deflect the shot....

            Ben was faster.

            Hux's pistol flew from his hand and smashed to pieces against the back wall of the room. Hux himself flew up and slammed against the ceiling, then crashed back down to the floor.

            "Don't. You. _Dare_ ," Ben snarled, crushing Hux against the floor with the Force. "You do not _hurt_ her, you do not _threaten_ her, you do not _look_ at her without my permission!"

            Hux made a weak gasping squeak of pain.

            "Ben," Rey said, "you're _killing_ him."

            "That's very sad," Ben said, not looking at her, his eyes on Hux's agonies.

            "Ben!"

            This time he looked at her. He _glared_. She heard one of Hux's ribs crack.

            "Ben, _release him_."

            For an instant, he looked _hurt_ , like a child who'd made a drawing for his mother and couldn't understand why she didn't like it after all the time he'd spent coloring the blood. Then he shrugged and turned away, leaving Hux gasping on the floor.

            "As you wish," Ben said. He walked off, head down and brooding. "Do with him as you wish."

            Rey bent over the crumpled general. "Are you all right?"

            Hux looked up at her and sneered, an effect lessened by his bloody nose and blackened right eye. "You.... Rebel... _scum_."

            "Oh, come _on_ ," Rey groaned.

            "It's... _obvious_... what... _treachery_ ... you two have... _wrought_..."  
            "We _wrought_ treachery? 'Wrought'? Who says 'wrought'?"

            "...and...when... I... tell...."

            " _Wrong_ ," Rey snarled. Rage and fear coursed through her, bright and pure and strong. She tossed Hux towards the ceiling with the Force -- he shrieked -- and caught him as he came down, holding him suspended above the floor in front of her.

            "You see," Ben called from across the throne room, "he has that effect on _everyone_."

            "There really is only one thing you people respect, isn't there?" Rey told the struggling Hux. She welcomed her fury like an old friend and focused it, the way Luke wouldn't have liked _\-- well, screw you, Luke,_ she thought -- and Hux began to choke. "Your worthless life is _mine_. I saved it. You will do as _I_ say."

            "Y-yes, m-m-my lady," Hux gasped, scrabbling at his throat.

            "Snoke died in the crash. The Supreme Leader is dead."

            "Long live the Supreme Leader," Hux squeaked.

            "Long live Kylo Ren," she said and released him. Hux fell heavily to the deck.

            "Long live Kylo Ren," Hux gasped, cradling his bruised or broken ribs. "Long live, ah...."

            "Rey."

            "Long live Lady Rey."

            Hearing that, Rey discovered, felt frighteningly good.

 

***

 

            The three of them rode the turbolift down to the command deck, Hux sweating between Ben and Rey.

            "You feared for the worst and raced to the Throne Room," Rey told him, "injuring yourself as you crawled through the wreckage, but you were too late."

            "Bravely disregarding my own injuries...." Hux muttered.

            "Don't push it," Ben said.

            "When you arrived, the Throne Room was in ruins and Snoke was dead," Rey continued. "A terrible, terrible sight."

            "Terrible," Hux agreed.

            "Ben -- _Kylo Ren_ and I barely escaped with our lives," Rey continued.

            "Terrible," Hux repeated.

            The turbolift doors opened onto chaos. Black-clad crewmembers rushed about the bridge, yelling damage control reports to each other.

            "Persons of a suspicious mind," Hux muttered, barely audible above the panic, "might speculate that the state of the Throne Room, and of Snoke's body, is _inconsistent_ with an external impact...."

            "Then you'd better get some explosives, hadn't you?" Ben whispered. Rey and Hux both stared at him. He smirked, then spoke again at full volume, causing heads to turn: "You can requisition them for the landing force you're about to put together."

            "Landing force?" Rey and Hux said together. Then she glared at the general -- she did _not_ like being in synch with this horrible man.

            "The Resistance has landed on Crait," Ben said, addressing the crew now as much as them. "We'll follow them down and finish this."

            Hux nodded, then grabbed a passing officer.

            "General Hux!" the man said. "What happened to your...."

            "The throne room," Hux said. "I went to check. It's in flames. A deathtrap."

            "Sir, damage control display says it's intact," said a technician.

            "The system's overloaded," Hux said. "Never calibrated for such an impact."

            A third crewmember nodded and turned to an intercom. "I'll dispatch a damage control team...."

            "No!" Hux yelled, with a panicky glance at Rey and Ben. "Ah, no, it's too dangerous, and everyone who matters has gotten out. I -- I wouldn't want you to risk your men unnecessarily." Disbelieving stares from all around. "Captain, continue the damage control effort, I'll get some explosives and -- ah -- personally open the Throne Room to space to extinguish the fire before it spreads."

            "General, a trained damage control team...."

            "No, no, Throne Room's full of highly classified materials," Hux said quickly with another glance at Ben. "Has to be me."

            Hux limped off, clutching his ribs. The crew returned to their stations but their eyes kept flicking to Ben and Rey.

            She grabbed Ben's shoulder and hissed in his ear: "Landing force? I thought you were letting them _go_."

            "I can't -- _we_ can't just leave them at large to cause more chaos," Ben whispered back, gesturing out the bridge windows at the ravaged hull. "If you want to save their lives, convince them to come in _peacefully_."

            "I.... all right. But you have to spare their lives."

            "If they surrender."

            "And no torture."

            "If they cooperate with our intelligence officers. If they help us find other terrorist cells before they strike. Otherwise, I can't..."

            "You're asking them to betray ...."

            "I'm asking them to help me _end this war_ , Rey." He took her hands in his and kissed them both. (Someone gasped in the background). "Surely that's worth a compromise?"

            "I - I'm not sure...."

            His grip on her hands got tighter. "You've got to trust me. Don't you _trust_ me?"

            "Yes," she said. "Yes. I do. Of course."

 

***

 

            How had she ever thought the Resistance had a chance? Immersed in the First Order now, Rey understood why Finn had thought the only hope was running away. She'd talked him out of that, into staying and fighting, but now she realized she'd been wrong.

            Even its death throes, _Supremacy_ was so huge she travelled through it for miles seeing no signs of damage, just the purposeful bustle of black-clad crew, white-armored stormtroopers, and droids. Giant cranes loaded mammoth walkers into even more mammoth landing ships. Rows of troops marched onto their transports. Racks of TIE fighters whined to life and took off.

            Everywhere, people stopped to stare at her and Ben. Fearful of him, puzzled by her.

            Ren ignored them. He gestured to a waiting shuttle, a bat-like black monstrosity, and offered her his arm: "If you'd accompany me -- Lady Rey."

 

***

 

            Rey watched from the hovering shuttle as the line of walkers lumbered forward, leaving red footprints on the white salt plain.

            <Enemy turrets engaging,> said a voice over the comlink, unnecessarily: She could see the stubby gun towers below the base of the cliff as they opened fire. <Returning fire,> the voice added, and then she couldn't see the gun towers anymore, just laser bolts, smoke, and red dust.

            A few speeders streaked out from the rebel base, looking tiny from this height. The red trails they left against the white were the easiest way to spot them. All were destroyed. The two that got closest to the siege gun, their presumable target, actually managed to collide. It was pathetic.

            The only formidable thing about the rebel base was its huge metal door, covering the entrance to the excavations under the cliff. Then the siege gun fired and even the door wasn't impressive anymore.

            <Door is down. Deploying infantry.>

            "No," Ben said. "Hold." He handed the comlink handset to Rey. "Your turn," he told her. "Your chance to end this without bloodshed."

            Rey took the handset, her fingers brushing against Ben's -- still ungloved -- as she did so.

            She nodded and hit the TRANSMIT switch.

            "This is Rey...." she said, but her throat went dry as she heard her own faltering voice magnified and booming across the plain.

            Ben took her shoulder.

            "This is Lady Rey," she said. She sounded stronger but she couldn't keep images from invading her mind: Finn, Leia, BB-8, the others all heartbroken by her betrayal... except she wasn't betraying them, she was _saving_ them. She told herself that a few times, then took a deep breath.

            "This is Lady Rey of the First Order!" she declared. "You. Have. _No._ _Hope_."

            Her voice reverberated off the cliff. She knew they'd heard her.

            "You have fought bravely," she said. (She heard Hux scoff behind her). "You have thrown everything you had at the First Order -- even a suicide attack by your largest cruiser -- and they are _still coming_ , in strength you could _never_ have matched. Now you have nothing left to throw away but your own lives. Don't do it!

            "No one is coming to help you," she pressed on. " _Luke Skywalker_ is not coming to help you. I have been to the island of his exile on Ach-To. I have seen the broken man he has become. A cynical old wreck who can't even help himself."

            She took Ben's hand. "But Kylo Ren is _strong_. He is the new Supreme Leader of the First Order." A pause to let that sink in. "He is strong _and_ _merciful_. If you surrender now, he will spare your lives. If you cooperate, you will not be harmed."

            Hux and the other First Order officers looked at Ben with varying degrees of incredulity. Ben just nodded.

            Rey thought she saw someone through the smoke, coming out of the base -- a emissary to negotiate surrender? This might actually work!

            "A real knight of the Force is here to grant you his protection," Rey said, fierce with hope. "Do not spurn his outstretched hand, do not throw your lives away in vain defiance, in the futile hope that some mythical...."

            The figure coming through the smoke looked strangely familiar. _Felt_ strangely familiar.

            "... uh, mythical..."

            Horribly familiar.

            " _Now_?" Rey shrieked, then remembered to cut off the transmission. The person approaching them from the rebel base was none other than _Luke Skywalker_. "He shows up _now_? After I _begged_ him? _Now_? After all this _death_ and _horror_? He's here _now_?"

            Ben's voice was deceptively soft: "I want every gun we have to fire on that man."

            Hux and the other officers exchanged uncertain glances.

            "Do it," Rey said.

            They did.

            The world shook with the unleashed firepower of the First Order. The spot where Luke Skywalker stood disappeared in a cloud of fire and smoke and red dust.

            "More!" Ben yelled.

            The walkers kept firing. The red dust rose higher.

            "MORE!"

            More fire. More dust. Dust would all that was left of Luke Skywalker, Rey thought. Not enough of him to bury.

            "Enough," she sobbed, then, disgusted by the weakness in her own voice, "Enough!" She grabbed the handset, flipped to TRANSMIT. "That's _enough_!"

            The shooting stopped. Dust obscured everything.

            Rey shivered. Ben panted as if he'd just run for miles. The shuttle crew looked uncertainly at each other. Hux sneered.

            "Do you think we got him?" the general said. "Now, if you two are _quite_ done, we...."

            "Sir? My Lady?" The co-pilot tapped a scanner and gestured at the cloud of dust. Something was coming out of it.

            Some _one_ was _walking_ out of it.

            Luke Skywalker strode confidently across the unbroken white.

            "No," Rey said, so softly even she could hardly hear it.

            The co-pilot helpfully dialed up the magnification so they could watch Luke brush something off his shoulder. He was _untouched_.

            "No," she said again. "That's not true. That's _impossible_...."

            After enduring that bombardment, he looked _better_ than he had on Ach-To. He looked _younger_.

            "Ben," she said, "Ben, something's not right..."

            Ben didn't listen. "Bring me down to him," he said. The shaken pilots obeyed without a word. "Keep that door covered and don't advance until I say."

            "Bring _us_ down to him," Rey said, following Ben down the ladder from the cockpit to the passenger deck, where a squad of stormtroopers jumped to attention.

            "My fight. Stay here," Ben snapped as he strode past them towards the ramp and then stood there, shivering, impatient for it to open.

            Rey scrambled after him. "Ben, I'm coming."

            "No," he seethed. "You stay too."

            "Ben, _trust_ me. You _need_ me."

            "I know. I do." Panic edged his voice. "That's why I can't _lose_ you."

            "I can't lose _you_!" She seized his hands in hers. "We do this _together_ , Ben, we take him _together_. He lied to _both_ of us. Tried to _separate_ us. And -- I love you."  
            "I know," Ben said. He took her in his arms and kissed her. His need was electric.

            She kissed him back.

            It was the first kiss in her life and it felt perfect.

            They were still kissing when the landing ramp lowered to reveal a waiting Luke Skywalker.

            "Sorry to interrupt," Skywalker said.

            Rey could feel Ben shaking in her arms. She didn't feel too steady herself. "Be strong," she said, not sure which of them she meant it for.

            "You'll soon be sorry for more than that," Ben snarled, pulling away from Rey and stalking down the ramp.

            "I have a lot to be sorry for," Skywalker said somberly, stepping back from them. Rey followed Ben down the ramp. "I failed you both."

            "You failed _everyone_ ," Rey said, stepping to the left while Ben stepped right, so they flanked Skywalker between them. "I _believed_ in you!"

            "And here I come, terribly late," Skywalker said. "But perhaps it's not _too_ late for you, Rey. Can you forgive me?"

            " _No_ ," she snarled and ignited her lightsaber.

            She and Ben threw themselves towards Skywalker. They moved as one, like two halves of a single being, the way they had fought in the throne room. Their blades converged, swift and bright and deadly....

            ...but Skywalker wasn't between them. He had dodged, no, _flowed_ out of the way, moving with a grace Rey hadn't imagined possible in flesh and blood.

            Rey and Ben recovered, repositioned, charged again, this time side by side, their feet leaving red tracks in the white. Again Skywalker danced away. He didn't even parry with his lightsaber.

            "Something's wrong," Rey panted. Ben ignored her and charged. Rey worked herself around to the flank while Skywalker slipped away from Ben's red blade. He somehow sensed her coming and flowed away as her saber cut empty air.

            "A trick," she gasped. "It's got to be a trick."

            Ben just screamed and charged, so wildly that Rey was terrified he'd be killed -- but again Skywalker just evaded, without striking back or even parrying. He slipped away effortlessly across the unbroken white with....

            Unbroken.

            Ben left tracks. She left tracks. _Skywalker didn't_.

            "Ben!" she screamed. "He's not here! He's not really here!" But Ben was deaf with panic, hacking away at the ghost of his uncle.

            Rey threw her lightsaber at Skywalker.

            Threw it _through_ him.

            "Nice throw," Skywalker said, his image rippling slightly where her saber had gone through. This time he didn't move out of the way as Ben extended his saber with a shaking hand and passed it right through him. Through the illusion of him.

            "See you around, kids," Skywalker said. He began to fade.

            "No!" Ben screamed.

            "No!" Rey roared and _reached out_ with the Force, with her anger, with her disappointment, with her _hate_. With all the darkness in her soul, she grabbed the bright energy that was Luke Skywalker and _pulled_ him back.

            Skywalker's image turned solid again. His eyes were wide, his face bright with sweat. "Rey, you don't want to do this....."

            "You have _no idea_ what I _want_ ," Rey snarled. "You never _cared_. And you're not _slithering_ away!" she shouted as Luke began to fade again. "Ben, _help me_!"

            She could feel Ben hesitate, then rally, and then his hatred for his uncle poured out alongside hers. Together they wrapped Skywalker's soul in dark coils of rage and wrenched it away from his distant body.

            "Rey, _don't_..." Skywalker choked, his hair turning grey, his robes growing ragged, the lines of age returning to his face, as his true Ach-To self broke through the illusion.

            "No! More! TRICKS!" she screamed at him and _pulled_ with all her strength, with the terrible strength that she knew now was the Dark Side.

            "Rey... _please_..."

            "You were right," she hissed, and she saw by the hope leaving his eyes that he understood. "It's time for the Jedi to _end_."

            She felt Luke Skywalker die.

            Light-years away, his body toppled lifeless to the rocks of Ach-To. On Crait, his image vanished. Rey and Ben fell to their knees, gasping for breath.

            "Did....did we...." Rey managed.

            "I felt it too," Ben said, choking back sobs. "He's gone."

            They embraced. She was shaking, the glorious certainty of the Dark Side fading into a horrible sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She cried on Ben's shoulder. "We killed Luke Skywalker."

            "I couldn't have done it without you," Ben whispered, kissing her. " _Thank you_."

            She wanted to cry, to vomit, to scream at him that everything was wrong, horribly wrong, but he was warm and strong and he _needed_ her. She kissed him back, over and over.

            They stood, shakily, helping each other up. Ben looked grimly at the smoking hole blasted in the great door of the Resistance base. "He was trying to buy them time...." He tapped a comlink sewn into his sleeve. "Hux! Dismount the infantry!"

            <At once, My Lord!>

            Ben and Rey exchanged looks of surprise.

            "Does he usually sound that respectful?" she asked.

            "No," he said, then turned to the stormtroopers rushing out of the shuttle. "Squad leader!" A trooper with a white pauldron on his shoulder turned to Ben, hesitated -- then went down on one knee.

            The whole squad went to their knees.

            "My Lord," the squad leader said, voice clearly trembling even through his mask's distortion. He didn't meet Ben's eyes.

            Ben gestured at the kneeling troopers. "Why are you all... doing that?"

            "We saw you fight, my lord. You and Lady Rey _killed_ Luke Skywalker. You killed the last Jedi!"

            Everywhere she went, for the rest of her life, that's who she would be, Rey realized. The girl who killed the last Jedi. The planet no longer felt solid under her feet.

            "Yes," Ben said, content. "He's dead."

            "Vengeance for Palpatine!" cried one of the other troopers, ecstatic. "Vengeance for Vader!"

            "Victory for the First Order!" yelled another.

            "Hail Kylo Ren!" the squad leader shouted, and the whole squad answered: "HAIL KYLO REN!"

            "Hail Lady Rey," Ben said softly, taking her hand and holding it up high.

            "HAIL LADY REY!"

            _I am_ Lady _Rey now_ , she thought. _This is my destiny_. Finn came to mind, and she knew something she could do to take the edge off the First Order.

            "What's your name, trooper?" she asked the squad leader.

            "CN-9475, my lady."

            "Take off your mask."

            He hesitated. Ben nodded. "Take it off."

            With trembling hands, the squad leader pulled off his helmet. His face was young and pale and bright with sweat. His short-cropped hair was reddish-blonde.

            "Kylo Ren," Rey told Ben formally, "grant this loyal soldier a name."

            Ben nodded again, understanding. They were in synch, the way they'd been while fighting, and everything felt right. It felt right when Ben reached down and picked up a handful of bright red dust. It felt right when he smeared a streak of it on CN-9475's helmet.

            "I see your face and speak your name," Ben said. "You are _Crimson._ Wear red on your helmet henceforth in memory of this day."

            "As you command, my lord," the man said, awestruck. "I am Crimson."

            "All of you!" Ben called. "Mark yourselves with red!" The stormtroopers grabbed dust and rubbed it on chestplates, shoulders, hands -- none on their helmets, they seemed to intuit that was for their chief alone. Behind them, more troops were coming down from the walkers on cables.

            "And now," Ben said, igniting his red lightsaber, "before those scum escape us -- _follow me_!"

            He and Rey took off at a run, smiling fiercely at each other.

            "HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH!" the squad roared as they pounded after.

            "My lord!" the squad leader -- Crimson -- called as he raced to catch up. "Let us be first through he door! You should not risk yourselves!"

            _Yourselves_ , plural. Rey felt a sudden, savage joy. After years of loneliness, after years of scrabbling for survival, she not only _belonged_ , she _commanded_ , and the camaraderie of the Resistance had nothing on this ecstasy of power.

            "Kylo Ren and I fear nothing, Crimson!" she cried. "Follow us!"

            She and Ben burst through the breached door, into the dark and empty base. The stormtroopers poured in after them, guns ready.

            "Clear!" Crimson shouted. "My lord, my lady, they're gone."

            "But they're close," Rey said.

            "Skywalker didn’t buy them enough time to get clear," Ben said, picking up something from the floor -- no, nothing, his hand was empty. "Which way?"

            "Can't you feel them?" she asked. It was so obvious.

            "No," Ben said. "Lead us."

            She nodded and started off, and they all followed her, Ben and Crimson and Crimson's squad and more stormtroopers -- their armor hastily smeared with red -- that kept pouring in all the time. She led the way through dark tunnels, the red and blue of their sabers the only light.

            She heard a distant, echoing BOOOOOM.

            "Hux," Ben said into his comlink, "did you send a team in another entrance? We're hearing explosions."

            <N...tive....lord,> Hux said through hissing static. <....isn't any...exit.>

            "Hux, boost your transmitter power, we're deep in the mine...."

            Another boom, this time accompanied by the sound of sliding rock.

            "They're trapped," Rey said, the cruel joy of the hunt rising in her. "They're trying to blast their way out!"

            "We have them," Ben muttered. Rey wondered at his lack of enthusiasm, until he whispered: "My _mother._ "

            She nodded. "Men!" she called. "We want prisoners! Blasters on stun!"

            "Yes, my lady!" Crimson said. "Set for stun, troopers! Repeat and confirm!"

            "Set for stun, corporal!" chorused the stormtroopers as they flipped switches on their weapons.

            There was another BOOOOOM, very close, and then they burst into a larger cavern. It was crowded with Resistance fighters who all snapped round in terror, except one sad old woman who was already facing the right direction, as if expecting them....

            "Don't shoot!" Rey screamed at the same instant Ben cried "Surrender!" and Crimson shouted "Freeze, scum!"

            "Don't shoot! We surrender!" the woman said hoarsely, raising her hands. It was Leia Organa. "Everyone, drop your weapons. We accept _Lady_ Rey's terms of...."

            "Rebel scum!" A stormtrooper made to strike Leia with the butt of his blaster.

            "No!" Rey yelled, but again Ben was faster. The trooper flew through the air and slammed into the pile of loose stones that occupied half the cavern, starting a small rockslide.

            "No one _touches_ that one," he growled, pointing at Leia but not looking at her.

            "My lord," Crimson said, " _that one_ is Leia Organa, Vader's traitor daughter, leader of this whole den of...."

            "That's my mother," Ben said flatly.

            No one, Resistance or stormtrooper, spoke for a moment. Or moved. Or breathed.

            "Oh," Crimson said finally. "Should -- my lord -- should I punish trooper CN-8412 for disrespecting...?"

            Ben turned to see the stormtrooper he'd flung now struggling to his feet, one arm clearly broken. "No, no," he chuckled, "I can't blame him for doing what I've often wanted to do myself."

            Ben still wasn't looking at Leia. Rey addressed her as the stormtroopers fanned out around them: "Where's Finn?"

            "You're _worried_ about him?" Leia said witheringly.

            _Lady_ Rey refused to wither. "Of course I'm worried! I did all this to save lives, Leia!"

            "Really? Then what have you done with Luke?"

            "Search your feelings," Rey snapped back, lashing out so she wouldn't cry and fall on her knees to beg forgiveness. "Now tell me where Finn is!"

            "Is that your traitor friend?" Ben asked from across the cavern, where he was stalking through the rows of kneeling prisoners. " _I'm_ looking for the funny one." Rey could feel the dangerous, manic energy coming off Ben in waves. "Dark hair, X-Wing pilot, made Hux look like a fool? Sassed me? 'Do I talk first or do you talk first'? _Nobody_ else remembers that?"

            Rocks slid and rolled down the pile. There was a stout Resistance soldier sitting precariously on the top of it next to a case of explosives. He hadn't knelt down with the others, he just kept pressing his back desperately against the cavern wall.

            "What are _you_ hiding?" Ben said and yanked the man away with the Force.

            Light shone through a narrow opening. A opening leading _outside_.

            "Hux!" Ben shouted, scrambling up the pile. Rey ran after him. "They blasted an exit right here! Some of them made it out!"

            <...not....coordinates....?> Hux said unhelpfully through the static.

            "Dammit, Hux, boost..." Ben lunged into the tunnel but banged his head. "Dammit!"

            "Have you forgotten you can use the _Force_?" Rey scolded. She reached out her hand and _pushed_. Rocks shattered and flew outward in angry shards.

            Ben charged through the opening, dodging levitating rocks.

            "No!" he roared. And then Rey, following, saw what he saw: The _Millennium Falcon_ , rising into the sky. "NO!"

            Chewbacca was on that ship, Rey thought queasily. Probably Finn. Probably the funny dark-haired pilot, whoever that was.

            "Hux! Can you hear me _now_?"

            <Yes, my lord!>

            "It's the _Falcon_! Get every TIE after it and _bring it down_!"

            <Yes, lord!>

            "NOW! They're getting _away_!"

            <Y...>

            Ben ripped the comlink off his sleeve and threw it with a scream that shattered the rocks hovering around them. He threw himself onto his knees and bloodied his fists against the stony ground. "No, no, no, no!"

            "Ben," Rey said, trying to sound soothing instead of scared as she ran up to him.

            "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Ben grabbed her outstretched arms, too tightly. "I should've _known_ , should've _known_ that goddamn _ship_ would be -- you _came_ on it, didn't you?"

            "Y-yes," she said. "Ben, you're...."

            "You _knew_! You _knew_ it was here!"

            "I didn't...."

            "It's all your fault!" His ungloved fingers dug into her forearms. "And you wanted to _spare_ them! I should never have listened to you!"

            "Ben, you are _hurting_ me...."

            "Just like my _mother_ , always _lying_ , _manipulating_ , keeping me in the _dark_...."

            She broke free and slapped him.

            Ben stared at her in shock. She was pretty shocked herself. But she reached deep into her anger to steady herself: "You are Kylo Ren, _Supreme Leader_ of the First Order, and this day you have _triumphed_ over your enemies -- so _act like it_!"

            He looked terribly young and wounded for a second. "It's -- it's my _father_ 's ship."

            "Well," she said, in a Lady Ren voice so icy she nearly froze herself, "you took care of _him_ , didn't you?"

            "Yes," Ben said softly. "Yes. Yes, I did." Suddenly he let go of her forearms and hugged her. Too tight, again, but at least it wasn't painful. "Oh, Rey, what would I do without you?"

            "My lord? My lady?" Crimson had clambered up after them and was staring at their embrace, at the fleeing _Falcon_ , at them again. "I left the squad to watch the prisoners, but...."

            Ben let go of her and walked off, ignoring everything outside his own head. Rey and Crimson stared at his back a moment. Then Rey steeled herself.

            "The prisoners are secure?" she asked, as haughtily as she could. That tone was coming easier now.

            "Yes, my lady."

            "Well done, Crimson. Tell General Hux to bring our shuttle -- _several_ shuttles to transport them all. Use your judgment as to how many."

            "At once, my lady."

            "They are not to be harmed, Crimson. Unless they resist."

            "As you wish, my lady."

            "General Organa -- _Princess_ _Leia_ will ride in the command shuttle with us. You will treat her with the dignity due her rank."

            "As you command, my lady."

            "That is all."

            "My lady." Crimson bowed, then stepped back to mutter into his comlink.

            Rey went to find Ben, who sat brooding on a rock atop the ridgeline. "Are you all right?" she said softly.

            "Big day," he muttered. "Lot to process." He took her hand. "Glad you're here."

            "I am too," she said, with more confidence than she felt. She sat down next to him, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip, holding hands.

            The black shuttle appeared overhead just as Crimson's squad started bringing the prisoners out, Leia in the lead. She was the only one whose hands weren't bound. One of the troopers even tried to help her when she started to stumble on the rocks, but she slapped his hand away.

            "You told them not to hurt her," Ben said.

            "Yes."

            "I can't talk to her yet." He stood abruptly, brushed himself off, and walked away. "I need you to do it."

            "Me?"

            "This mercy thing was your idea," he called as he walked away.

            "All right," she said, "but she's coming on the shuttle with us."

            "Oh, good, that won't be awkward at all."

            "Just be _civil_!"

            A couple of stormtroopers looked up at her -- and very quickly looked away again. She'd been a bit too loud. Being lonely in the Jakku desert hadn't prepared her for being the center of constant attention.

            Rey took a deep breath and went down to meet Leia.

            "Princess Leia," she said, nodding her head in a slight bow.

            " _Lady_ Rey," Leia drawled. She'd already been inching along but now she stopped completely, holding up the stormtroopers and the entire line of prisoners behind her.

            "I am...." Rey realized she had the icy Lady Rey voice down but no idea of what to say. "I'm glad you are unharmed."

            "Yes, I feel _great_ ," Leia said in that same sardonic drawl. Dammit, so that's where Ben got it from.

            Rey turned and headed towards the shuttle, motioning to the troopers to follow. For a moment she feared Leia wouldn't cooperate, but then she heard her fumbling progress over the uneven stones again. It struck her how painfully old Leia was, old and tired.

            "You will be well treated," Rey said.

            "These _are_ the most polite stormtroopers I've ever encountered. Your doing?"

            "Yes," Rey said. "And if you and your people cooperate fully with First Order intelligence, you have nothing to fear."

            "I was tortured by the _real_ Darth Vader and still didn't give anything up," Leia said. "My wannabe son and his new girlfriend won't do any better."

            "I'm -- we're...." Rey realized to her horror she was blushing and Leia could see it.

            "Oh, yes, Rey, I'm old but I'm not blind. You forget I was young and in love and _stupid_ once..... though not so blinded I betrayed my friends."

            Rey had her response ready. "I didn't betray you! I _saved_ you!"

            "Taking someone's freedom isn't 'saving' them, Rey. That's the mistake your side keeps making."

            "And _your_ mistake was to lead so many people to their _deaths_ \-- you almost led me! -- in fight you could never win."

            "So you lost hope?" Leia sighed. "Is that why you turned?"

            "The reason I _turned_ ," Rey seethed, anger giving her strength, "the reason I joined Ben, is that I _love_ _your son_. I _understand_ him. I _believe_ in him. Why. Don't. _You_?"

            Leia winced. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, her sad, tired eyes. "You _don't_ understand, Rey. Ben is _not well_ , he needs help..."

            "He needs _me_. I _am_ helping him!"

            "Really."

            "Better than _you_. _You_ sent him to his uncle, who tried to _murder_ him!"

            Leia Organa froze.

            Then she seemed to crumple slightly, as if she'd just aged another decade.

            "I'm glad I killed him," Rey snarled, almost believing it. Then she turned on her heel and stormed up the ramp, shouting: "Bring her aboard!"

            "Yes, my lady!" the stormtroopers chorused.

            "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm coming," Leia grumbled. "Get off!" A trooper had tried to take her arm again; she smacked his white-armored hand away, then winced. The stormtroopers fell back and let her shuffle up the ramp under her own power. She kept her eyes down, not meeting Rey's.

            Ben was still sitting on his rock. Rey didn't want to shout at him so she glared pointedly and hoped he got the message. _Come on, Ben!_ she thought.

            _All right, all right_ , his sullen voice sounded in her mind, much to her surprise. He hopped off the rock more like a grumpy teenager than a Supreme Leader and walked over to the shuttle. He carefully didn't look at where his mother was sitting among the stormtroopers, presumably in the seat left vacant by the man he'd thrown against the rocks.

            "Hail Kylo Ren!" Crimson shouted.

            "HAIL KYLO REN!" the squad roared.

            Ben flinched slightly, then managed a reasonably regal nod. Luckily he didn't see Leia roll her eyes. Instead he took Rey's hand, kissed it, and held it up again. "Hail Lady Rey," he said.

            "HAIL LADY REY!"

            _I have no idea what I'm doing_ , he thought at her.

            _You're doing fine?_ she thought back, but apparently it was harder to lie telepathically than verbally. He just arched his eyebrow at her.

            Ben and Rey went up the ladder to the cockpit and strapped in. Hux smiled at them too toothily as the shuttle started up. He had red smeared on the left shoulder of his greatcoat.

            "You went outside the shuttle?" Ben said.

            "Oh, yes, my lord, once the area was secure," Hux said happily. "Every man and woman of this task force is obeying your command to mark our uniforms with the red salt of Crait in honor of this momentous day!" A smug pause. "I believe the walker crews are coming down in shifts."

            "That's very clever," Ben drawled.

            "Oh, it's nothing on _your_ achievement, Supreme Leader! To defeat the legendary Luke Skywalker in single, well, dual combat..... You didn't even use your _sabers_ at the end! You didn't even _touch him_! You crushed him with the sheer power of your wills and he faded into nothing!"

            "You saw all that?" Rey asked.  
            "Oh, yes, my lady! The whole _fleet_ did." Ben and Rey turned to him, surprised, and he smirked. "Yes, once we knew you'd won, we took the sensor playback, edited it a bit, and transmitted it to the _Finalizer_ to rebroadcast. I imagine it'll spread across the Galaxy in days."

            "That's....actually very clever," Ben muttered.

            "Thank you, Supreme Leader." Hux preened. "You see, I _am_ someone you want to keep around."

            "I'll be the judge of that," Rey snapped.

            Hux paled. "Of course, my lady. My life is yours." He recovered his toothy smile. "If you and the Supreme Leader would indulge a humble suggestion...." Ben made a kind of huffing noise that Hux apparently interpreted as assent. "....clearly we must make the new leadership situation clear to everyone, and hot on the heels of your great victory is the time to do it. When we return to the _Finalizer_....."

            "It wasn't damaged in the collision?" Rey said.

            "Not severely, my lady, I'm happy to say. So, if you'll forgive me anticipating your instructions, Lady Rey, Supreme Leader, I've ordered a military review in the main hangar. I shall address the troops to..."

            "No," Rey said.

            "What? I mean, excuse me, my lady?"

            "The Supreme Leader will address his followers _personally_ ," Rey said, looking intensely at Ben, who looked intensely uneasy. "They must hear from him."

            "Of course, my lady," Hux said, noticing Ben's discomfort, "even a few words from the Supreme Leader would carry great weight. I could introduce...."

            "Your introduction will not be necessary, Hux," she said coldly.

            "Ah." Hux swallowed. "As my lady wishes, of course." He looked petulant. "I am _quite_ good at speeches, though."

            "Enough, Hux."

            "He is, though," Ben said. "It's rather his _thing_."

            Hux preened.

            "No, Hux," she said.

            Hux sulked.

            Ben sulked too.

            "Come on, Ben," she said sharply, in full Lady Rey mode, then softened: "You can do it. You did beautifully with those stormtroopers."

            " _We_ did beautifully with those stormtroopers, together," he said, taking her hand and squeezing. Then he gave her a sly look. "We're going to make this speech together, too."

            "Oh," she said. "Oh. Oh."

            She and Ben sat side by side in silence, holding hands, thinking hard.

 

***

 

            The main hangar was a grid of white and black spots. It took Rey a moment to realize those were stormtroopers and dark-uniformed personnel standing in ranks, hundreds of them. Then Ben was scrambling down the ladder, and she had to follow.

            "You men escort us," Ben told Crimson. "You're the Supreme Leader's bodyguards now. I seem to have mislaid the last lot."

            "Yes, my lord!" Crimson barked proudly.

            He pointed at his mother, slumped in her chair and not looking at him. "Bring her out right behind us and keep her there."

            Hux scrambled down the ladder. "If my lord and my lady are ready, we...."

            Ben ignored him. He grabbed Rey's hand, wrenching her wrist a little, and stomped with her down the ramp. Half the stormtroopers hustled to get ahead of them while the other half followed behind with Leia and Hux -- Rey glanced backwards and caught them exchanging looks of disgust.

            There was a thunderous CRACK as a hangar full of troops all came to attention in perfect unison. Rey wondered _how_ they knew the precise moment until she saw, with no small horror, huge screens on the walls of the hangar showing her and Ben's every movement at ten times life size.

            "Hail the Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren!" Hux yelled from behind them, apparently hell-bent on saying _something_. An amplification system picked him up so the whole hangar could hear.

            "HAIL KYLO REN!" The roar was thunderous. Rey could feel it in her bones.

            "Hail Lady Rey!" Hux cried.

            "HAIL LADY REY! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!"

            Ben stepped forward -- letting go of Rey -- and raised one hand. Silence fell instantly.

            "My noble warriors," Ben said, softly, but the amplification carried it to every corner of the cavernous hangar. "My brave and loyal servants of the First Order -- _I salute you!_ " Those last words were a shout as he thrust his hand into the air, igniting his lightsaber.

            Hundreds of hands shot upward in salute. "HAIL KYLO REN!"

            "Hail Lady Rey!" Kylo -- _Ben_ \-- shouted as he saluted her with a flourish of his saber.

            "HAIL LADY REY!"

            "My friends," Ben said, voice gentle again as he extinguished his saber, "in the last few days, we have passed through the fire together." A pause. "Let us be honest: We have suffered terrible losses. Starkiller Base. The _Supremacy_. And even Supreme Leader Snoke."

            A collective groan rose from the ranks, a sound of real grief. Rey was simultaneously touched and horrified. She had never thought of First Order thugs as capable of mourning anyone, but to mourn that monster of all people....

            "But we have also _triumphed_ ," Ben said, starting to pace. "We have decapitated the Republic! We have crushed the Resistance! And we have _killed Luke Skywalker_!"

            "HAIL KYLO REN!" roared some in the crowd, but others cried out "VENGEANCE FOR VADER!" or "VENGEANCE FOR PALPATINE!" or even "VENGEANCE FOR TARKIN!" Their lockstep discipline was fraying under the force of their emotions: Rey could feel the power pulsing through the Force. Her heart raced in spite of herself. To be part of this....

            "Together," Kylo ... _Ben_ said, taking her hand and raising it, "Lady Rey and I have killed the _last Jedi_!"

            "HAIL!" "HAIL KYLO REN!" "HAIL LADY REY!" "VENGEANCE FOR VADER!" The crowd was shouting half a dozen things at once. A few were openly weeping.

            "In the last few days, through our terrible losses, I have felt anger," Ben said. "I have felt hatred. I have even felt _fear_." He paused to let that last one sink in. Rey could see people nodding agreement in the ranks. "The Jedi would say these feelings are _weaknesses_. But they are _wrong_ and they are _gone_. I say these feelings give us _strength_!"

            "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL! HAIL!"

            "In the last few days, I have felt other emotions," Ben went on, softly, taking both of Rey's hands now. "Happiness. Hope. _Love_." She felt herself blushing; he smiled. "The Sith would say _these_ feelings are weaknesses. But they too are _wrong_ and they too are _gone_." He pulled Rey close. "I say these feelings give us _strength_!"

            He kissed her.

            The crowd erupted into a ferocious, wordless howl of joy.

            "It is time, my friends," Ben said as the thunder died, "it is time to let the past die. To take what we need from the past, no more, and build a New Order for the galaxy." There were rumbles of assent.

            "Let us begin with honesty." Ben stepped forward. "I used to wear a mask. One of Lord Snoke's last commands as Supreme Leader, in his wisdom, was that it was time for me to remove it." He slowly turned his head to one side, then the other. "You have seen my face. Now you will hear my name. You know me as Kylo Ren...."

            The silence was total.

            "... but I was born Ben Solo." His disgust was audible. "Son of the rebel criminal _Han Solo_...." He spun round and pointed an accusing finger at Leia, standing with sad dignity between two stormtroopers. ".... and _that woman_!"

            Hundreds of mouths gasped. Hundreds of pairs of scornful eyes turned to Leia, who seemed to shrivel slightly.

            "That woman, called Leia 'Organa,' but truly Leia _Skywalker_ \-- a traitor not only to the Empire but to her _own father_ , my _grandfather_ , the great _Darth Vader_!"

            The crowd rumbled angrily. Some of them broke ranks to boo and shake their fists and bellow "DEATH TO LEIA!" "DEATH TO TRAITORS!" "VENGEANCE FOR VADER!"

            " _This woman_ you see before you," Kylo spat, "when she saw my _power_ , when she saw my grandfather's _spirit_ reborn in me, when she saw my _destiny_ to restore the Empire, grew frightened -- as well she should have! So she sent me to her brother, my uncle... _Luke Skywalker_!"

            The wordless howls of rage were terrifying. Rey was astounded that Leia could stand there, staring at the deck, and not collapse.

            "And just as Luke Skywalker betrayed his own father years ago," Ben said, "when I, his own nephew, was _entrusted_ his care, he tried to _murder_ me!"

            "DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

            "But he _failed_ , as Jedi treachery will always fail," Kylo said, shouting now over the shouting, "and I escaped to find you, my brothers and sisters of the First Order!"

            "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!"

            "But even then," Ben said when the roar faded enough for him to be heard, "but even then, my brothers and sisters, I was incomplete. I had found no equal in the Force..."

            "HAIL LADY REY!" cried those who saw where this was going.

            "Yes," Ben laughed, "I had no fit helpmeet -- until now." He beckoned Rey forward, and she realized with a jolt of terror that he expected her to speak.

            "HAIL LADY REY! HAIL LADY REY! HAIL LADY REY!" gave her just enough time to compose herself. Ben needed her. All of them needed someone like her, she realized. She could feel their _need_ pulsing through the Force, darkly intoxicating.

            "My friends," Rey said, keeping most of the tremble out of her voice, "my new brothers and sisters in the First Order...."

            A roar of approval, like a jolt of lightning, terrifying and exhilarating: "HAIL LADY REY!"

            "....for you _are_ my family, now," she said, almost forcing herself to believe it. She turned to the stormtroopers flanking them. "Like you, I was taken from my mother and my father as a little child. I -- I never knew them." The white helmets hid the troopers' faces, but she could _feel_ their sudden vulnerability. "But my parents didn't matter. They were nothing. I was nothing from nowhere -- until Kylo Ren _chose_ me."

            "HAIL KYLO REN!"

            "All of you!" Rey cried. "Live for that day, serve for that day, _fight_ for that day, when Kylo Ren sees your face and speaks your name! When he lifts you up to glory as he has lifted me!"

            "HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!"

            "He is your father now!" She took his hand. "I am your mother!"

            "HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!"

            "And the galaxy is _ours_!"

            "HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!"

            "And in victory," Rey said, trembling at what she was about to say, "let us be generous. Let us be merciful." She turned to Leia, who still stood, head bowed, between two of Crimson's stormtroopers. "I know that you all hate her for her treachery...."

            "DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

            "....but she did _one_ thing right." Rey paused. No one spoke but she could feel their incredulity, even indignation, as they waited for her to explain. Leia raised her eyes to look at Rey, with a tiny flicker of hope.

            Rey smiled, slightly, knowing the screens would magnify it for all to see.

            "Princess Leia continued the mighty Skywalker line," Rey said. There were shouts of approval, even laughter. "She may have betrayed her noble father, but she gave birth to his grandson...."

            "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL KYLO REN!"

            ".... so let us honor and emulate her in that one thing," Rey said. She turned back to Kylo. "My lord," she said, taking both his hands in hers, "I am yours."

            "I know," Ben said, smiling.

            " _Take_ me," Rey said with quavering voice, "and I will give you such sons and daughters as will make the galaxy _tremble_."

            "Yes," he whispered.

            "Let the line of Anakin Skywalker rule the galaxy in peace and justice for a thousand years!"

            "HAIL LADY REY! HAIL LADY REY! HAIL LADY REY!"

            Ben raised one hand and silence fell at once. He smiled at her.

            "Yes," he said, softly, then louder: "Let it begin today.... the Empire of the immortal, invincible House! Of! _VADER_!"

            The roar of emotion nearly knocked her off her feet. She clenched Ben's hands to steady herself.

            "VADER! VADER! VADER! VADER! VADER!"

            This time the chanting didn't stop. It just rolled on and on. Behind them, Hux gestured sharply, and from somewhere -- A recording? A military band? Did the First Order _have_ bands? -- came the crashing brass of the Imperial March.

            Kylo took Rey's arm and they walked through the rows of saluting, shouting troops. She found herself leaning against him, drained.

            "That was inspired," Kylo whispered.

            "Thank you," she whispered back.  
            "A bit of a surprise," he said. "Especially the sons and daughters part."

            "S-sorry..... Was I presumptuous?"

            "In the best possible way," Kylo said, smiling. "I think we should start working on that at once."  
            "As you wish, my lord," she said lightly, trying to hide how warm she suddenly felt. She was blushing again, dammit.

            But everything was fine. She had Kylo. She had his love. She had his _army_. She had its adulation. She had the galaxy. The orphan scavenger from nowhere had become an Empress.

            _Don't worry_ , she told herself over and over again as they walked through the chanting crowd. _This is fine_.


	2. Cooptation Doctrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beware original characters and multiple points of view. Fear not, Rey is still the protagonist.

_Vesper_

            "VADER! VADER! VADER! VADER!"

            _Well, that was different_ , Admiral Navarre Vesper thought as he watched Kylo Ren and his Force-sensitive whatever-she-was march out between the rows of saluting troopers. _Supreme Leader_ Kylo Ren, which would take some getting used to. So would the stormtroopers' enthusiasm for their new leaders.

            Vesper thoughtfully tugged his trim grey mustache. He'd never seen such emotion in four decades serving the First Order and the Empire before it.

            "That went well," General Hux said smugly, which, to be honest, was the usual way he said things. Hux rubbed his gloved hands together as he turned to Vesper and the other assorted senior officers. "The new Supreme Leader will expect your utmost. I expect you all at War Council in two hours."

            "A staff meeting?" grumbled one of the other generals. " _Now_?"

            "No, in two hours," Hux repeated irritably.

            "General Hux," said Commodore Crennel, a stout naval man, "most of the Joint Chiefs were just evacuated from _Supremacy_. Our staffs are scattered. Admiral Kamal is injured, Director Hocht is missing, Director Silva is on Crait...."

            "Crait?" Hux asked. "Why is the head of warship production on.... Actually, I don't want to know. The meeting will run more smoothly without Silva's unique brand of _logic_."

            "And General Klimenti is still on the _Supremacy_ ," Vesper said.

            "What?" Hux glared up at Vesper -- the older man had half a head's height on him. "I ordered all Alpha-level personnel to evac...."

            "General Klimenti believed her stormtroopers could provide valuable assistance in the damage control and evacuation effort."

            "Fine, fine, but why is _she_ still...."

            "She is personally coordinating operations on the front line," Vesper said.

            "That's not her role," Hux snapped. "I need..."

            "Roles change," Vesper said equably. "And I imagine our new Supreme Leader would approve of General Klimenti's hands-on approach, since that was always Lord Vader's leadership style, as you may recall." Vesper smiled indulgently at young Hux. "Well, Armitage, _you_ may not recall it personally, but I'm sure your late father told you stories."

            "I assure you, _Navarre_ , I'm very familiar with...."

            "Is it our new Supreme Leader who's convening the War Council?" Vesper asked suddenly.

            "What?" Hux said. "What does that have to do with...."

            "I'm simply asking whether the order to meet in _exactly_ two hours comes _directly_ from Lord Kylo Ren."

            "We must prepare strategic options for the Supreme Leader to consider _before_ he summons...."

            "So _not_ directly, then?"

            Hux seethed as Crennel and the other attendant officers looked warily from him to Vesper. "Very well," the increasingly red-faced redhead said after an awkward moment. "You have _four_..."

            "Perhaps six hours?" Vesper said. "To prepare properly for such an important...."

            "Six. _Fine_." Hux stomped off without a further word.

            Crennel looked up at Vesper. "What _are_ you up to, Admiral?"

            Vesper smiled at him. "You know, Crennel, old friend, I do think Kylo Ren becoming Supreme Leader is the _worst_ possible outcome for our boy general." He tugged his mustache and winked. "Let's make the most of our eight hours to ensure all our allies attend."

            "Eight hours, sir? General Hux said...."

            "What General Hux says, m'boy, is rapidly becoming irrelevant."

 

***

 

_Rey_

            "How long have we been here?" Rey asked, nuzzling sleepily up to Kylo in the narrow bed.

            "Hmmmph," Kylo replied sagely.

            "No, seriously, how long..."

            She felt him roll over to check the chronometer. "Three hours."

            "Damn."

            "Why 'damn'?" he asked, rolling back over to embrace her. "The first three hours of many, I hope."

            "I hope so too," Rey said. She tried, not too hard, to wriggle out of his arms and happily failed. "But there are two important things that we're neglecting."

            "Just two?"

            "One, you have a galaxy to rule."

            " _We_ have the galaxy. But what's the point of ruling it if we can't make it wait?"

            "Two, I desperately need to _pee_."

            "Ah, well. A cosmic power even emperors cannot tame." He let her go.

            She wrapped a blanket around herself awkwardly as she got up, blushing as she felt his intent attention, and shuffled to the bathroom. It was tiny. Sitting on the toilet, her knee hit the shower door. "I thought your quarters would be, ah....."

            "Neater?" he called. She could hear him starting to get up. "Sorry, I was fixing a power converter from my TIE, I'll just...."

            "No, no," she said, " _grander_. I mean, more like Snoke's."

            "Ah." A thoughtful pause. "Well, they _could_ have been, if I'd wanted it. But I preferred something more practical and, well, austere."

            "Monastic?"

            "Yes, a bit."

            "Dare I say _Jedi_ -like?" she called, washing her hands.

            A longer pause. "That will have to change, won't it?"

            "We certainly need a bigger _bed_ ," she said, sauntering out of the bathroom with her blanket more artfully draped.

            "I have no desire to ever leave this one." He was still in it.

            She curled up next to him and let him kiss the back of her neck. "Nor I, my lord," she said, "but the _galaxy_...."

            "Let it burn." He kissed her more.

            "No," she said reluctantly, "no, wait, Kylo, who knows -- that tickles! -- who knows what havoc Hux is up to out there?"

            "Ugh." Kylo stopped kissing. "The thought of _that_ face is a mood-killer."

            "Isn't there _anyone_ else we can trust to run things?"

            "Trust wasn't really central to Snoke's management style."

            "I'm sure, but are we really stuck with Hux?"

            "Already regretting sparing him?"

            "No," she said. "Maybe. I don't know. Is he always so annoying and unctuous and presumptuous?"

            "Big words from my little desert scavenger." A kiss.

            "You'd me amazed how much reading matter you can scavenge from the crew quarters of a Star Destroyer. And how much time alone I had to read it... But surely Snoke groomed _you_ to run things?"

            "Not particularly." Kylo's warm arms went around her. "He'd send me out to execute -- to _conduct_ missions, I'd come back, he'd give me more. Hux handled the administrative.... _stuff_."

            "What did you do if he administrated in a way you disliked?"

            "Make snarky comments and death threats, mostly." A rougher kiss. "I dislike spending so much of our time discussing _Hux_."  
            "You'll dislike it more if he runs things and makes you a figurehead." With a great effort of will, she pulled away and faced Kylo. "Surely there's some alternative? A man like that must have enemies....."

            "My desert flower is surprisingly political."

            "Your little desert flower _reads_ ," she said, a trifle sharply, "and she didn't survive at Niima Outpost without learning how to handle _bullies_."

            Kylo blinked. "Niima Outpost?"

            "Nowhere. The place I lived on Jakku. It's not important. Are you even _listening_ to me?"

            "Right, right, Hux has enemies....." Kylo looked thoughtful. "Well, he's actually fairly popular among the younger officers, especially on the Army side...."

            "Popular? Him?"

            "Well, he gets them promoted and they know that. They don't actually _like_ him."

            "Ah."

            "But the old Empire hands outright resent him...." Kylo looked irritable. "What's-his-name, always messing with his mustache."

            "Who? What? What mustache?"

            "Old Navy man. Gets under Hux's skin. The other admirals tend to make him the spokesman when they're unhappy with Hux, which is often. Met my grandfather once, won't stop talking about it. Argh...." Kylo almost seemed in pain. "Not Canady, Canady was his aide until he got the dreadnought.... Vader, Veeder, Vetter...."

            Rey began to laugh. "Is the Supreme Leader of the First Order bad at remembering people's names?"

            "Shut up. Vester, Vesler, _Vesper_. That's it! Varus Vesper. Or something like that." Kylo's look of relief made Rey crack up. He scowled. "It's not funny."

            "I'm going to have to keep track of everyone's names for you, aren't I?"

            "No," Kylo snapped, then softened. "Well, you can if you _want_."

            "Did this Vesper survive the _Supremacy_?"

            "I think so. I think I saw him in the hangar bay."

            "Then let's get dressed and get him here," Rey said excitedly, grabbing her clothes. "Maybe another senior officer or two whose _names_ come to mind."

            "I don't have a bad memory, I just don't _bother_ ," Kylo grumbled. "Vesper's pretty tight with the Commandant of the Stormtrooper Corps, wassername, thingy, K-K-something.... But before we meet anyone, we should really shower."

            "With real water?" Rey gasped. Kylo gave her a look. She blushed. "Sorry, desert planet."

            "With real water," Kylo said indulgently. "You can use as much as you like."

 

***

 

_Klimenti_

            "We're running out of water, ma'am," the damage control officer said hoarsely, wiping soot and sweat off his forehead. "Five more minutes max."

            "Fire suppressant foam?" General Kassandra Klimenti coughed as she swapped out the soot-clogged filter in her oxygen mask, her sweaty fingers slipping. She ought to have borrowed one of the full-face helmets from the damage control crews -- the same basic shape as a gunner's -- but she couldn't see in the bloody things.

            "Foam's out," the officer rasped. "Resupply didn't come."

            Klimenti turned, aching from hours on her feet, and looked through the open blast door to the next compartment. Flame rose up in sheets to the high ceiling, dwarfing the black-clad damage control crews and white-armored stormtroopers as they wrestled with huge hoses. Water poured onto the fire and instantly boiled to steam without apparent effect.

            Somewhere inside that inferno was one of _Supremacy_ 's many reactors.

            "Reactor containment will melt through once we stop hosing it down," the damage control man said.

            Klimenti tapped her comlink. "You heard that, Commander?"

            <I hear you both, General, but with the holocams down I can't see to verify,> the answer came through heavy static. " _My_ readouts indicate... >

            "Your readouts on the bridge indicate _nothing_ because you are twenty kilometers away and the data cabling is burned through," Klimenti said. "I need you to _verbally_ relay the SCRAM code for this reactor."

            <I can't do that, General. KGX-C3 is the sole remaining power source for damage control efforts in that entire sector. If I shut it down....>

            "You're not listening, _Commander_ ," she rasped. "Your dilemma isn't shut down the reactor or keep the power on. It's shut down the reactor _now_ or lose power anyway in five minutes..."

            "Four minutes," muttered the damage control officer.

            "....in _four_ minutes when it _blows_. I'm _ordering_ you to give me the code!"

            <With all due respect, _General_ , you're Stormtrooper Corps. I'm Navy. You're not in my chain of command.>

            "Damn your air-conditioned arse, Commander..."

            "Coming out! We've got survivors coming out!" yelled a stormtrooper, his white armor black with soot.

            Amazingly, the firefighting teams had cleared a path through the blaze and a ragged band was staggering through: stormtrooper cadets in black uniforms, none of them over twelve years old, led by a gaunt figure in the once-white tunic of the Intelligence & Security Bureau, now stained with sweat and soot. He was the only one with an oxygen mask.

            Klimenti ran towards them. "Medical trooper for the cadets!" she shouted, then grabbed the gaunt man's arm and helped him forward. "That you, Director Hoch?"

            "Hoch _t_ ," he hissed instinctively, then bent over coughing.

            "What are you doing in the arse-end of the ship?" she asked, handing him a fresh filter for his mask. "We had people looking for you everywhere."

            "Inspection," Hocht rasped, waving at the hollow-eyed, soot-covered children. "This cadet batch had...." Violent coughing. ".... _disciplinary irregularities_ and was doing sanitation duty as punishment. Given the recent incident with FN-2187...." He paused to glare at her.

            "What, you're bringing that up _now_?"

            "....I decided to take a look myself." More coughing. "I did not expect the ship to blow up."

            "Strictly speaking, only part of it's blown up."

            "Give it time, General, give it time."

            A smoke-blinded cadet stumbled into them and fell over, apologizing.

            "Get up, keep moving," Klimenti said, as gruffly as she could.

            "Yes'm," the child said, then looked up at her. "Ma'am, did Lady Rey send you to save us?"

            "What?" Klimenti said, then saw the child's wide eyes and softened. "Yes. Of course."

            The child rushed off, happy.

            Klimenti turned to Hocht and muttered, "who...?"

            "Lady Rey is the Supreme Leader's _consort_ ," Hocht said. "It _was_ broadcast all over the fleet. Maximum power. Even trapped as we were, we could watch it while we waited for you to get us out."

            "I've been busy."

            "Water's done in forty seconds!" shrieked the damage control officer. "Everyone out, out, _out_!" The fire control teams dropped their still-spluttering hoses and came running for the blast door.

            "What?" Klimenti snapped. "That was never four minutes!"

            "It was an _estimate_!"

            Klimenti left Hocht and ran for the blast door controls. "Time?"

            "Sixty seconds!"

            "Come on!" Klimenti yelled, grabbing a cadet and bodily yanking her through the blast door.

            "Thirty seconds!"

            "What? Come on! Come on!"

            A last batch of cadets was crawling feebly through the smoke towards the blast door. One boy with a burn scar on his face was pulling along another....

            "Ten! Nine! Eight... _whoops_ , zero!"

            Klimenti punched the control and the massive door slammed shut in the boy's burned face. The thick metal cut off all sound from the fire. She leaned against the door and doubted herself. Nothing seemed to be hap....

            There was a muffled BOOM from the far side of the door. Everything shook.

            "You cut that a little close, General," Hocht said.

            "Hoch...."

            "Hoch _t_."

            "....why don't you....." Klimenti bit her tongue. Literally. The pain helped her focus. "Why don't you let these troopers escort you to a shuttle," she said without inflection.

            "You're too kind."

            "Quite possibly." She leaned heavily against the door. It felt warm. "All right, we're abandoning this sector and pulling the fireline back to the next bulkh..."

            <Klimenti?> hissed her comlink.

            "What _now_?"

            <Klimenti, this is Vesper....>

            "Navarre?"

            <Yes, yes. Kassandra, I need you over here on _Finalizer_ at once. >

            She looked around the weary damage-control teams as they picked up their equipment and fell back. The handful of surviving cadets limped after. "I think I'm rather needed here on the _Supremacy_." She sighed. "If this is about Hux's bloody staff meeting...."

            <Not quite,> Vesper said. <You and I have been summoned by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.>

            "Oh _crap._ What did we...."

            <No, no, I think it's a good summons. Direct access to the new chief instead of everything having to go through Hux.>

            "That'd be lovely."

            <Get on a shuttle ASAP. You've got about an hour while she's trying on dresses. Vesper out.>

            "Dresses?" There was no answer but static.

 

***

 

_Rey_

            "I don't think I've ever worn a dress," Rey said uncertainly. "And these fabrics...." She ran her hands through them. Light, smooth, supple as water. Like nothing she'd ever touched.

            "Only the best for Lady Rey," Kylo said indulgently, leaning back in a throne-like chair a flunky had dragged in, the only furniture besides racks and racks of clothes.

            "Aren't trousers more practical?"

            "Practical is not the point. If you're to be the Mother of Emperors, you must dress the part."

            "All -- all right." She turned back to the dresses. "These are beautiful. Less clothes than works of art. I never imagined the First Order had anything but uniforms, let alone a tailor droid...."

            <<Correction, my lady: I am DA-ND, agent infiltration preparations. I am conversant in the sartorial practices of over six million....>>

            "Shut up," Kylo said.

            "These will all fit me?" Rey said, clutching an overflowing armload of the glorious garments.

            <<Of course, my lady. I have already determined your size, figure, and optimal color palette to six significant decimal....>>

            " _Shut up_."

            "Let's try these on, then," Rey said, deliberately ignoring them both.

            The next hour went by in a blur. Rey remembered it afterwards as a montage: her trying on one beautiful wrork of art after another, blushing and laughing under Kylo's slight smile and hungry eyes, the droid chattering on in the background.....

            "That one's perfect," Kylo said at last.

            "This?" She twirled for him. It was a simple silver gown that bared both shoulders, with a shimmering translucent over-garment that pinned around her throat like a cape. "It's not _black_...."

            "We do have shades of grey in the First Order, you know," Kylo said, standing and taking her hand. "And our new Empire will have every color your heart desires."

            "Thank you, my lord," she said, and curtsied.

            <<I will make some modest alterations at once,>> the droid interrupted as Kylo went in for the kiss.

            " _Shut_..."

            "Alterations? But it's perfect already..."

            <<My superior senses detect _several_ imperfections, my.... >>

            "The underskirt's a little frayed, beloved," Kylo snapped. "It's nothing."

            <<Note also the small burn mark on the lower back and the wrinkled....>>

            "SHUT...."

            "Burn mark?" she asked. She craned her neck and tried to turn to see but just ended up chasing her own silk tail.

            <<No doubt blaster damage from when the dress was acquired, my lady. Very careless. I will patch it with matching material.>>

            Rey turned to Kylo as she hastily shucked off the dress. Its dead weight fell around her feet. "Blaster damage?"

            "It's nothing," he said, growling more than he probably intended.

            "How...." The droid whisked the dress away and she stood there covering herself with her hands. "How did the First Order _acquire_ all this clothing anyway?"

            "Does it matter?" he asked, kissing her cheek. "It's all ours now. All of it."

            She shivered. "What other plunder do you have on this ship?"

 

***

 

_Klimenti_

            Kassandra Klimenti hustled double-time through the crowded corridors of the _Finalizer_ , her staff and stormtrooper escorts strung along behind her trying to keep up. There were thousands of evacuees from _Supremacy_ aboard, ostensibly confined to disused docking bays and other out-of-the-way spaces, but they kept on getting underfoot. She was short and aggressive so she kept shouldering through where her bloody useless retinue couldn't follow.

            In her haste, she'd rushed past most of the massive First Order banner on the wall before she noticed something wrong with it.

            "What's _that_?" she said as she stopped to stare. "Who'd _dare_ deface...." The symbol of the Order was still there: on a field of red, a black hexagon surrounded a black circle, with 16 spikes pointed inward. But in the hollow space at the center, someone had spray-painted a crude Y-shape.

            "Not defaced, General," said the stormtrooper sergeant, who'd come from _Finalizer_ 's contingent. "That's a V."

            It _was_ the Aurebesh character for V, she realized. She waited for him to say more but apparently he thought that was enough explanation.

            "Why a V?" she finally asked.

            "V for Vader, of course." His helmet was expressionless but she could still feel his disapproval. "The immortal, invincible House of Vader."

            "Ah." She contemplated the V. Its rough lines reminded her of angry graffiti she'd seen on a dozen mutinous planets. For the First Order's own people to do this..... "This is about that broadcast I didn't see, isn't it?"

            "Yes, General. You should definitely watch that." There _was_ a note of reproach in his electronically filtered voice. "You should also watch the Death of Skywalker and the Naming of Crimson." She could hear the capital letters.

            "I should." She resumed her quick march down the hall. "As soon as the real work is done."

            They reached the turbolifts and rode up in awkward silence. When the doors opened, two stormtroopers with red dust smeared on their white armor checked her credentials and patted her down. She decided she shouldn't rebuke them for not cleaning their armor until she figured out what was going on....

            "She's fine, she's fine, that's your own Commandant," Vesper said, stepping in to shoo the stormtroopers away. "Hello, Kassandra m'dear. Hail Vader." He saluted with an outstretched arm.

            "Ah, Hail Vader to you too? Navarre, what _is_ going..."

            "Change, Kassandra." He put an arm around her shoulder -- he was so bloody tall -- and walked her down the hall. "Change that can be immensely beneficial for both of us." He handed her a red armband with a black symbol on it -- the same nested hexagon-circle-Y she'd seen on the banner. "Just put this on."

            "You're going to explain all this at some point?" she asked, but she did as he said.

            "Of course. And I'm so glad you had time to shower the soot off ....Hail Vader!" Vesper saluted another pair of red-dusted stormtroopers guarding a door.

            "Hail Vader!" they shouted back.

            "Ah, hail Vader," Klimenti said sheepishly.

            "Admiral, General, their Imperial Majesties expect you," said one of the stormtroopers, the only one with red on his helmet.

            "Thank you, Crimson," Vesper said, then turned to Klimenti as the door slid open. "After you."

            "Thanks," she said, stepping inside, then whispered: "Crimson? Imperial..."

            "Roll with it, m'dear. _Roll_ with it. HAIL VADER!"

            "Ow," Klimenti muttered, instinctively covering her ear. Then she realized Kylo Ren and -- argh, what's-her-name -- were sitting together at the far end of a long black conference table, set with four glasses and a bottle of something green. "Uh, Hail Vader!"

            "Hail Vader," Kylo Ren said casually, raising his forearm in a sort-of salute.

            The girl sat stiffly beside him a stunning silver gown. She was painfully young, barely older than Klimenti's own boy but apparently devoid of typical teenage nastiness. "General Klimenti, Admiral Vesper, please sit down," she said, indicating the smaller chairs on either side of them.

            "Thank you, my lady, my lord," Vesper said, sitting. Klimenti overcame years of training and forced herself to take a seat as well. Snoke had always made her stand. Maybe the change really would be for the better.....

            "Of course," the girl said, then turned to Klimenti. "I'm so glad to meet you, General. I understand from the Admiral that we couldn't reach you by hologram because you were leading damage control efforts on the _Supremacy_?"

            "Yes, ma'am. My apologies."

            "None needed. There were more than two million aboard -- even cadets," the girl said with what sounded strangely like genuine concern. "Children. I hope you saved many of them."

            "As many as we could, milady," Klimenti said, remembering.

            "The attack on _Supremacy_ was a terrible thing," the girl said. Sincerely?

            "The gods of war will have their sacrifices, sweet Rey," Kylo said, looking a little bored. _Rey_ , that was her name.

            "You both have my condolences," the girl -- _Rey_ \-- continued. She really did mean every word of it, Klimenti thought. Then Rey turned to Vesper. "And to you, Admiral, my particular sympathy for the death of your friend, Moden Canady."

            Vesper froze. Klimenti had never seen him speechless before. After a moment, he blinked his suddenly wet eyes and nodded. "Thank you, my lady. There are not many of us old Empire hands left."

            "Did Canady serve with you under Lord Vader?" Rey asked.

            "Ah, no, m'lady," Vesper said, warming to the topic. "No, I met him when I transferred out of Death Squadron after Admiral Ozzel, ah, was relieved by Admiral Piett. Fine officers, all of them."

            "Fine men," Kylo Ren interjected. "I'm sure my grandfather valued all of them highly." He took the green bottle and began pouring into the four glasses. "I can build more dreadnaughts, I can train more crews, but I can never make more men like Modern Canady."

            "Moden," Rey whispered.

            "I said that." Kylo Ren raised his glass, a little theatrically for Klimenti's taste. "To our honored dead!"

            "To our honored dead!" the other three loyally echoed. They all drained their glasses. Whatever it was burned going down.

            "Their sacrifice will not be in vain," Rey said softly, then arched an eyebrow. "Although I understand from Kylo that Canady's death could have been prevented had Hux allowed him to launch his fighters five minutes earlier."

            "A stupid waste," Kylo Ren agreed. "Hux blundered."

            Vesper and Klimenti looked at each other. Then Vesper said, cautiously, "You're quite correct, my lord. Nor is it the only time...."

            "The initial landing on Jakku," Klimenti interjected bitterly. "You were there, my lord. All the assault ships landed in a neat line right next to the objective, their debarkation ramps pointed _towards_ the enemy so my stormtroopers had no cover.... A senseless waste of life."

            "Senseless," Kylo Ren drawled, so sardonically that Klimenti had a flash of panic that _he_ had ordering a landing on top of the objective out of sheer impatience. She relaxed when he said: "Again, Hux blundered."

            "Hux has some merit as an administrator, apparently," Rey said. Now she was being coy. It was interesting to watch her shift from heartfelt compassion to transparent scheming. So young....

            "Oh, he's quite a bureaucrat," Klimenti said. "Not a tactician."

            "Perhaps," Rey suggested, "some reevaluation of Hux's role should be considered?"

            "Yes," Klimenti said fervently, then remembered to add, "my lady." She reached inside her jacket to pull out a small data pad. "And Phasma was just his thug. The next Captain of the Corps should be a trustworthy professional -- I made up a list of candidates on the shuttle here...."

            "Ah, General," Vesper said with a warning tone, "perhaps the Supreme Leader already has a candidate in mind?"

            "Oh," she said. "Of course."

            "You mean Squad Leader Crimson," Kylo Ren said.

            "You have literally marked him for great things, my lord," Vesper said.

            "I have. But I'll keep him as our bodyguard." The Supreme Leader turned to Klimenti. "He lacks the experience to be Captain of the Corps."

            "Captain of....?" Rey asked.

            "Senior captain of the Stormtrooper Corps," Klimenti explained. "Ostensibly a veteran trooper who advises the Commandant on training, discipline, etcetera, but Captain Phasma would just go over my head to Hux." She offered Kylo Ren the data pad. "These officers...."

            He pushed the pad away. "I don't need to see the list. Have you discussed your candidates with Hux?"

            "Ah, not exactly...."                            

            "That's not a problem. Who's your top choice?"

            "Captain Therkis, my lord," she said, stubbornly pushing the data pad across the table towards him. "As you can see, he...."

            "Serkis? Good man." The Supreme Leader clearly had no idea who she was talking about. "Tell him he's got the job."

            She glanced at the data pad. "You don't want to review..."

           Kylo Ren waved a hand. "I trust your judgment, General. I trust both of you. Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

            "Thank you, my lord," Vesper said.

            "Ah, thank you," Klimenti echoed hastily.

            Kylo Ren tapped a control and a holographic image of the galaxy flickered into existence over the table. Red dots poured across it from the Unknown Regions: First Order-controlled stars. "How do you assess our strategic situation?"

            That was quick change of topic. Klimenti and Vesper looked at each other.

            "Strong but not secure, my lord," Vesper offered. "I think Hux has overlooked...."

            "We're overstretched," Klimenti cut in. She'd never be this blunt with Snoke, let alone the volatile Kylo Ren, but the girl gave her confidence he'd stay calm. "Vesper doesn't have enough ships to establish space control across the entire galaxy, I don't have enough stormtroopers to hold even the Category One planets."

            "Our entire strategy was predicated on Starkiller Base," Vesper said. "Once it...."

            "Starkiller was an abomination," Rey spat with more venom than Klimenti had thought the girl capable of. No coyness here. "I'm glad it's gone."

            "Ah, of course, my lady," Vesper said, glancing nervously at the indulgently smiling Supreme Leader, "but without the threat of obliteration to keep the systems in line, we require far more frontline forces to secure...."

            "Tarkin Doctrine," Kylo Ren scoffed. Rey looked at him, puzzled. He smiled indulgently. "Rule through fear. Control systems through massive demonstrations of force like Hosnian or Alderaan rather than direct occupation."

            Rey was clearly struggling to contain her disgust. "That's e...ah.... _wasteful_."

            "Wasteful, my lady?" Vesper said. "The Tarkin Doctrine is designed to achieve economy of force."

            "By destroying your own planets?" Rey's voice and bearing had grown colder, haughtier. She looked at Vesper and Klimenti's confused faces with regal scorn. It was an act, Klimenti realized, but an effective one.

            "The galaxy is _ours_ ," the girl said. She turned to Kylo Ren. "It is _yours_ and _mine_ , my love -- and our children's. Why destroy any part of their inheritance? Why do we have to smash part of it so we can rule the rest?"

            The Supreme Leader nodded. "Yes. All worlds must bow to the House of Vader," he said slowly. "A world we destroy is lost to us more permanently than a world in rebellion."

            "Your Imperial Highnesses are very wise," Vesper said uncertainly.

            "But we don't have enough troops," Klimenti said. Kylo Ren glared -- Rey seemed strangely excited -- but she pressed on. "It's one thing to set an objective and another to _achieve_ it. If our strategy isn't the Tarkin Doctrine, what is it?"

            "I'm so glad you asked," Rey said eagerly, girlish again. "I have an _idea_ , Kylo's willing to try it..."

            "Anything for my beloved."

            "...but I don't think First Order generals will take it well from _me_."

            "They'll take it well if I tell them too," Kylo Ren grumbled.

            Rey put a gentle hand on his. "Why waste the Supreme Leader's time and energy twisting arms..."

            "Try 'crushing throats.'"

            "....when there's an easier way?"

            Vesper nodded. "If General Klimenti and I were to make the case to the War Council...."

            "Kylo and I would ensure you carried the day."

            Things were definitely changing, Klimenti thought.

            "Well, well, well, my lady," Vesper said, pleased. "So what do we believe?"

 

***

 

_Kylo Ren_

            "I really think it's going to work," Rey gasped as soon as Vesper and what's-her-name had left. "Oh, Kylo, thank you!" She hugged him.

            "It's my pleasure," he said. "As is this." He kissed her. He could feel her arousal through the Force. She burned bright, this beautiful girl of his. Bright and pure. But a blade forged of pure metal would be brittle. The two of them together made an unbreakable alloy, dark and light coming together in something new.

            He pulled away from the kiss. "It won't be easy."

            "What? Oh, the plan thing," she said, blushing. "Sorry, that was very distracting."

            "I'm glad." He pulled her into his lap. So warm and soft, with such strength hidden underneath the curves, waiting to come out. She just needed a teacher..... "We need to do everything to ensure it succeeds."

            "Yes. Absolutely."

            "Even if Vesler..."

            "Vesper."

            "...even if Magnificent Mustache Man can convince Director Hoch, there'll be plenty of hardliners to help Hux." He smiled. "How alliterative. Anyway, we mustn't let Hux rally them."

            "No, he mustn't."

            "Keep him off balance."

            "Yes, Kylo, yes."

            She was almost ready. He gave her a stern but loving look. "This is still the First Order. It will take time and a strong hand to shift them."

            "Yes. Two strong hands." She took his.

            "And we will have to wield the weapons of both light and dark."

            She looked troubled. "What do you mean, Kylo?"

            "To save many lives, Rey, we will have to take a few."

            She nodded resolutely. "Yes. It's hard but -- but I understand that now."

            "We can't kill Hux -- sadly -- or any member of the War Council. Vesper made clear, in his mealy-mouthed way, that that would backfire on us politically."

            "I'm glad you're thinking this through, Kylo."

            "But we can cut off Hux's right hand."

            He felt her stop breathing for a moment. Then: "You didn't meant that literally, did you?"

            He chuckled as he tapped another control on the table, summoning a blue hologram of Hux, taking a data pad from a stern woman in uniform.

            "Colonel.... ah, dammit." Why did they make the writing on these screens so small? "Colonel Estheri Tarmagant. Hux's chief of staff. She sorts his schedule, compiles his briefings, brings his coffee." Kylo snorted. "Combs his hair, I bet. She got sick once and he could barely dress himself, let alone run the War Council."

            "Almost a mother figure....?" Rey said uneasily.

            "At best a bossy sister. It's not like he loves her."

            Rey looked at him in unhappy silence for a long moment. "You want me to kill her?"

            Such a delicate moment. He put his hand gently to her cheek. "This woman is complicit in everything Hux has done, Rey. Enslaving children to be stormtroopers. Hunting down the Resistance. Invading the Republic. Destroying the Hosnian System."

            "You're right," Rey said. "If I were still in the Resistance, I wouldn't hesitate to take this mission. That shouldn't change because -- because I'm with you. But.... won't people recognize me?"

            "It's amazing what people don't see, my dear. And I had the costumer droid..."

            "DA-ND?"

            "...whoever find a little something for you."

 

***

 

_Rey_

            This would work. This would work. This _would_ work. Rey pulled the First Order cap lower over her face with one hand and hugged the heavy, floppy sack of coffee beans with the other. The crewmembers filling the corridor mostly ignored her as just another black-clad nobody, but she thought she'd seen a few stormtroopers staring.

           Mercifully she found the right door fast and punched it open. A bored-looking junior officer in gray sat at a desk, making entries into a data pad. "Run your ID here," he said, pointing at a scanner without looking up at her. "State your business."

            "Coffee for the General's staff, sir," she said, fishing out her ID card one-handed while struggling with the sack.

            He looked up at that. "Oh, good. We thought the whole ship was out, what with all these evacuees from _Supremacy_ sitting around swilling it. Back there." He waved at an open door, where officers in grey and teal bustled about snapping at each other.

            "Come on, you layabouts! General Hux chairs the War Council in two hours!" It was the stern woman from the hologram, now in full color: her tightly braided hair was black, her eyes grey, her uniform teal. Estheri Tarmagant.

            Rey reached out with her mind....

            "Oh, praise Snoke, coffee," said a teal-clad officer -- he had "TARKIN" in Aurebesh on his cuff, which made him a major, she thought. "Put it there." He pointed to a table with four sleek black coffeemakers and a stack of ration bars. "Chop chop, girl."

            "Yessir," Rey said, dumping the coffee before turning back to look at Tarmagant. She reached out through the Force....

            "Wait, wait, I have to sign for that," the major said.

            "Yes, sir. Sorry sir." She pulled out the data pad Kylo had given her with the forged ID.

            The major took it and hesitated. "I haven't slept since Starkiller. What's the date?"

            "Uh...."

            "Coffee?" It was Tarmagant, bearing down on Rey. "I thought the ship was out of coffee." She snatched the data pad. "Who authorized this? The form's not filled out properly."

            "Sorry, Colonel Tarmagant," Rey said. "I don't know, ma'am. Galley clerk just told me to bring it here, I don't argue, ma'am."

            "For Snoke's sake, Colonel," the major said, "don't send it _back_."

            "I'm scrupulous, not stupid." Tarmagant squinted at the data pad. "Why is the writing so...Hmmm, very fancy stuff. From the Supreme Leader's personal stores, I'll bet."

            "Praise Snoke indeed," the major said.

            "Hail Kylo Ren," Tarmagant corrected sternly.

            "Right, Hail Kylo and all that....So if it's the S.L.'s stores, it's a peace offering to General Hux, perhaps?"

            "There is no discord between the General and the new Supreme Leader."

            "Of course not, Colonel. Of course not."

            "Don't you have work to do, _Major_?"

            "Yes, Colonel. Of course, Colonel." The major shuffled away.

            "Wait." Tarmagant stopped halfway through handing Rey back the data pad. "Doesn't she look like Lady Rey to you?"

            "What?" The major came back, looked at her. "A _bit_."

            "Anyone ever tell you that you look like Lady Rey, child?"

            Rey forced a chuckle. "Three people today, ma'am." Kylo has said this would be easy. What a _liar_. She would _throttle_ him. She would learn Force Lightning and zap his _testicles._

            "Lady Rey's _taller_ , of course," the major said.

            "Of course. I'm not an idiot," Tarmagant snapped. "I'm just remarking the resemblance." She turned to Rey. "Go on, child."

            "Yes'm!" Rey backed away, then realized with dread she needed an excuse to linger . "Ah, Colonel Tarmagant, could I have...."

            "Yes, you may have _one_ cup _._ "

            "Thank you, Colonel!" Rey hustled over to a coffeemaker and fumbled with the paper cups, trying to calm down.

            "Now," Tarmagant said from behind her, "where are the revised production estimates on _Tarkin_ and _Krennic_?"

            Rey could feel the Colonel's harsh energy behind her. She filled her coffee cup with trembling down. She reached out with the Force -- she _tried_ to reach out with the Force, but it was hard when she didn't dare turn to look.

            "No, no, these are the _old_ estimates again, you miserable cretin. General Hux needs the accelerated schedule."

            Rey reached out with the Force. Not for the throat -- it would be a dead giveaway, if she could even find it without looking -- but the unmistakable pulsing of a heart.

            "Well, why _isn't_ Director Silva reallocating coaxium to _Tarkin_?"

            Rey _squeezed_.

            "I don't care if _Relentless_ is still.... _oh_."

            Rey lost her grip on the Force. She forced herself not to run.

            "No, it's nothing. Bit of heartburn courtesy of bloody Silva, no doubt. _Where_ is..."

            Rey found Tarmagant's beating heart and _squeezed_.

            "Oh. _Oh dear_."

            A body hit the floor behind her.

            "Colonel? Colonel!"

            Panicked officers converged the spot behind Rey where she could feel Tarmagant's life force fading. "I'll get a medic," she told no one in particular and rushed out.

            "What's happening?" the officer at the desk cried.

            "Getting a medic!" Rey yelled and ran. She crashed into two stormtroopers and lost her hat before she was safely back in the turbolift.

            What a mess. What a horrific mess. But she'd done it.

            Rey stood alone in the turbolift, going cold.

            She had done it.

            She'd murdered that woman.

            No. She'd killed an enemy soldier in time of war on orders of the Supreme Leader.

            No. She'd _executed_ a _friendly_ soldier on orders of the Supreme Leader.

            No. She'd _assassinated_ her. This wasn't justice: It was political convenience, trying to wrong-foot Hux before a stupid _staff meeting._ And this wasn't a faceless, nameless stormtrooper in the swirl of battle: It was someone she'd talked to face to face, whose name she knew.

            No. People don't just become people when you see their face and speak their name. The stormtroopers she'd shot, Snoke's guards she'd hacked apart, they had names and faces, even if she did not know them. They all had childhoods and mothers and fathers even if they did not know them, even if they had been ripped away from them just as she had, even if they were lost and hurting just like her....

            She slammed the EMERGENCY STOP button on the turbolift.

            _ben help me_

            _I'm here, Rey._

            And he was. She could feel his warmth.

            _where are you_

_On the bridge, with Hux, establishing my alibi. What's wrong, beloved?_

_i killed her_

_But you're not happy about that._

_no_

_Because you knew her, even for a moment?_

_yes_

_That does not make her less evil, Rey._

_okay_

_That does not make her deserve death less._

_maybe_

_There are many yet living who deserve to die, my love._

_maybe_

_But her death will help us save deserving lives._

_yes_

_Isn't that what you want?_

_yes yes yes_

_I want you to say something with me, a litany that's helped me in the past._

_okay_

_Say it out loud. That will help._

_okay_. "Okay."

            _There is no guilt, there is only conviction_

"There... there is no guilt..... there is only... conviction...."

            _There is no pain, there is only strength._

            "There's no pain....There's only...strength."

            _Through strength and conviction, I gain victory._

            "Through strength and c-conviction, I gain victory."

            _Through victory, my chains are broken._

            "Through victory, my chains are _broken_."

            _The Force shall free me._

            "The Force shall free me."

            She stood unsteadily -- she'd been curled up on the floor, she realized -- and released EMERGENCY STOP. The lift headed up again.

 

***

 

_Hux_

            "Lord Kylo?"

            '"What, Hux?"

            "Do I need to repeat any of what I just told you?"

            "Please don't."

            "You just seemed distracted...."

            "Well, you _are_ very boring."

            _Mock me all you want, Kylo Ren_ , Hux thought deep in his mind where he hoped no one could see, _but the only reason I've not already initiated one of my six standing plans for your assassination is that I’m frankly terrified of your girlfriend._

            Hux bowed. "Of course, my lord."

 

***

 

_Klimenti_

            General Klimenti stepped thoughtfully into the ready room. Vesper was holding court by the coffee machine, Commodore Crennel loyally by his side. Vesper was speaking too quietly for her to hear, but by the way he tugged his mustache, he was trying to tell a funny story to Director Hocht -- good luck getting a laugh out of _him_.

            Other officers pored bleary-eyed over reports or muttered to each other in corners. In the middle of the room sat a short, babyfaced man in the white uniform of R&D, complete with a ridiculous Krennic cape tangled over the back of his chair. He was ignoring everyone to doodle incomprehensible diagrams on a data pad with one hand while eating cookies with the other.

            "Director Silva," she said, tapping him on the shoulder.

            "Wha -- _Kassandra_!" He smiled. "You made it off _Supremacy_ alive! How nice. Have a cookie?"

            "I'm fine," she said. "What happened to _you_ , Breis? One minute you were helping coordinate damage control...."

            "Oh, I had to go down to the planet."

            " _Crait_?"  
            "Whatever it's called. Yes, I got a report that the siege laser had burned through the mine door in 13 percent under the projected time."

            Klimenti thought about that a moment. "So you had to rush down there because the weapon proved _too_ powerful?"

            "With Death Star tech, yes, I did. Those things are _constantly_ on the verge of blowing themselves up. Very annoying. Flawed principles." He chomped another cookie and continued with his mouth full. "Turned out to be a false alarm. Typical. The siege laser was fine, idiot door was weaker than it was supposed to be because of salt corrosion. Everything metal on that planet is corroding, it's a horror show."

            "And that," Klimenti said slowly, "was more important than damage control on _Supremacy_? With two million survivors still aboard?"

            "Oh, _Supremacy_ 's damage control system was performing entirely according to our models. I have to prioritize anomalies, you know."

            "You have no political instincts whatsoever, Breis, do you?"

            "No. I do not."

            "Where'd you be if Vesper and I didn't look out for you?"

            "Still testing ion engines?" He thoughtful. "Or executed for something.... Probably executed."

            "Take care, Breis," she said, patting his shoulder again, and headed toward the coffee maker.

            "Admiral Vesper," she said, slipping past him to get coffee.

            "Kassandra," he said happily. "I was just telling Director Hocht...."

            "I'll consider it," Hocht said in a hoarse, barely audible hiss, sounding more like a walking corpse than usual. "Not sticking my neck out for you, fellow old Empire hand or not -- no offense, Vesper...."

            "None taken," Vesper said with an airy wave.

            "....but if the happy couple really have your back on this, rest assured, I'll make myself useful."

            "And you can be the most useful man in the Order when you want to be, Cato," Vesper said. "More coffee?"

            "No more.... Navarre." Hocht seemed to swish the other man's first name around in his mouth as if he wasn't sure about the taste. "This old man's bladder can't take Hux's interminable meetings otherwise."

            "I'd welcome the excuse to get up," Klimenti said.

            Hocht actually chuckled, an alarming rasping sound. "Where _is_ the boy general, anyway? Gone in the meeting room already?"

            "No," Vesper said, "no one can get in, apparently they're still setting up."

            "Whole ship's in chaos," Klimenti said. "And Hux is _never_ late."

            "Things change." Vesper smiled.

            "We'll see," Hocht rasped. "What about Silva?"

            They all looked at the happy little man. "He knows to pay attention, for a change," Vesper said. "All he needs to know."

            "He's a weak link... Navarre." Slightly less distaste for the name this time.

            "He's harmless.... Oh, and here's Hux at last."

            Hux strode in looking slightly frantic, reading one data pad while carrying two others in his off hand. His red hair stuck up in back. A few miserable-looking staff officers piled into the room behind him. No Colonel Tarmagant, though, which was odd.

            "General Hux!" Vesper said warmly, beckoning him over. Klimenti noticed Hocht had somehow disappeared. Not ready to stick his neck out by letting Hux see them together, for example....

            "Oh, Admiral, you made it.... Good." Hux pronounced "good" like Hocht pronounced "Navarre."

            "Coffee?" Vesper said, offering a mug and three packets of sweetener.

            "Oh, _yes_ ," Hux said, much more sincerely. "I didn't get any in all the confusion -- my chief of staff dropped dead two hours ago, can you imagine? -- so I'm running on bloody fumes."

            "What, Colonel Tarmagant is _dead_?" Klimenti said.

            "Yes, yes, it's a _nightmare_ , my briefing slides are all out of order."

            Oh, Klimenti thought, this isn't suspicious _at all_. "Sudden case of crushed throat?"

            "What? No, heart attack. Very strange. Always seemed healthy as a...."

            "It's been a stressful few days," Vesper said, forcing a chuckle. "This old Empire hand could've keeled over too."

            "Yes, that would've been _tragic_ ," Hux said, pouring in all three sweetener packets. "Thanks for the coffee, Navarre." He ambled off to snap at his staff.

            Vesper glared at Klimenti. " _Crushed throat_?"

            "Sorry," she said. "It slipped out."

            "We have _one_ trump card, Kassandra," Vesper muttered angrily under his mustache. "Let's not wave it about and drop hints."

            "Sorry, Navarre. Sorry."

            "Your bluntness is one of your most endearing qualities, but.... Ah, _finally_ we can go in."

            The assorted generals and admirals and directors left their aides behind to crowd into the surveillance-shielded conference room -- and stopped dead.

            The long black conference table was decorated with brilliant silver candelabras. It was set for dinner with gilded plates -- piled with steaming food -- and gleaming silverware. The usual hard-backed chairs had been replaced with richly upholstered ones.

            And at the head of the table, sitting in carved thrones, were Kylo Ren and Lady Rey. He wore his usual black but with a flash of color -- a rich red lining to his cape -- while she was stunning in silver.

            "Eheheheheh," Hux croaked, or something like that, having frozen in his usual rush to the head of the table. Then he jumped to attention and shot his arm out in salute. "Hail Kylo Ren!"

            "HAIL KYLO REN!" the others shouted.

            "Hail Lady Rey!"

            "HAIL LADY REY!"

            "Hail Vader," the Supreme Leader said with a little wave.

            "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," Rey said, standing. She gestured at the table. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

            "We're...my lady.... we're _eating_ at War Council?" Hux said, smacking the hand of one of the fatter generals as he reached for a roll.

            "My beloved," Kylo Ren said, "made the point that most of you have been working constantly, in intermittent peril of your lives, for at least 12 hours since _Supremacy_ was hit, and that you'd think better with something in your stomachs besides caffeine and ration bars."

            "Ha! Very insightful!" Hux forced a laugh. He looked back at the other leaders, who were overcoming their shock and finding seats. Then he looked at where Kylo Ren and Rey were sitting at the head of the table. "Ah, eheh, I usually -- where do _I_..."

            "At my right hand, Hux," the Supreme Leader said, gesturing. "Where I can keep an eye on you." His smile seemed less than friendly.

            "Aheheheh, very clever sir." Hux started to go around _behind_ the thrones, thought better of it, and began to go the long way round the entire table. "Excuse me, _excuse_ me...."

            "Look, Hux, we're right across from each other," Vesper said, sitting at Rey's left. She patted his hand and smiled, as if he were a favorite uncle.

            "They've got _name cards_ ," Klimenti realized. Hers, she realized, was much higher up on the Army side of the table than she normally got to sit... " _Handwritten_?"

            "Hahaha, made it," Hux said, pushing past her to his seat at last. "Sorry about the confusion, aheh, Lord Snoke never came to War Council, I'd just report to him afterwards and..."

            "And then," Kylo Ren said drily, "he'd call people into his throne room one by one by one and give them contradictory orders to see who came out on top."

            There was a stunned silence. It was true, of course, but to just _say_ it....

            "I lack Snoke's patience," the new Supreme Leader said. "I'll attend War Council, we'll keep it _short_ " -- a glare at Hux -- "and I'll hear everyone's honest judgment."

            "Be free to speak your minds," Rey said.

            "If we have disagreement? _Good_ ," Kylo Ren continued. "Let the strongest plan prevail. We'll thrash it out here and then we'll execute it."

            "Eheheheh. How refreshing." Hux shuffled his three data pads, desperately looking for something, then seemed to find it. "Aha, yes, my lord, my lady, if I might suggest an agenda...."

            "Before we go into that," Rey said, "allow me to apologize for the ad hoc accommodations." She gestured at the feast, which people had already started eating. "It's amazing what you can find on this ship, but it's not _Supremacy_."

            "Not a proper flagship at all," the Supreme Leader mused, with such studious casualness that Klimenti realized they'd rehearsed this.

            "Not at all, my lord," said Vesper, who'd as usual caught on faster than Klimenti. "You need a proper command ship as soon as possible." Hux was frantically juggling data pads again. "I might suggest..."

            "Aha!" Hux said, grabbing a pad. "Very relevant, very relevant to the question my lord has raised, construction on _Tarkin_ is sixty-seven percent complete."

            "Tarkin?" Rey asked innocently, turning to Vesper. Klimenti had watched her ask the same question of him in earnest a few hours before.

            "The _Wilhuff Tarkin_ and _Orson Krennic_ , my lady," Vesper told her, for the second time today. "Battle stations. Capable..."

            "...of penetrating a planetary shield and destroying the planet behind it in a single blast," Hux interrupted triumphantly.

            "Like the Death Star?" Rey said, mostly masking her loathing.

            "No," Hux said at the same time Vesper said, "Yes."

            Hux glared. Vesper smiled and stared down the table. "Director Silva might explain -- Breis, are you down there behind that candelabrum?"

            "Yes, yes, Navarre," the small man said through a mouthful of food. He reached out to move the offending candles away, but another officer hastily grabbed them before he knocked them over. "I'm happy to explain."

            "No need..." Hux said hastily.

            "Breis Silva is Director of the Bureau of Ships," Navarre told Rey, who nodded sagely as if she didn't know that already.

            " _Tarkin_ and _Krennic_ are basically stripped-down Death Star superlasers without the rest of the Death Star," Silva said, popping up a hologram of two thin, angular structures still under construction. "Old tech, frankly not very interesting, but when Hux's Starkiller project was having hiccups...."

            "It was _fine_ ," Hux hissed.

            "....Snoke wanted something tried-and-true as a backup plan. When Starkiller got back on track, he back-burnered _Tarkin_ and _Krennic_...."

            "But I can accelerate them again!" Hux said, searching his data pads. "By... by...."

            "By diverting resources from everything else we're building," Vesper said. "Delaying work on Star Destroyers, transports, fighters, walkers...." Officers all around the table looked uncomfortable.

            "When will they be done?" Kylo Ren said. "How many days?"

            " _Days_ , my lord?" Hux tried to smile. "I have a plan here to finish _Tarkin_ in...." He made one last pass through his data pads and gave up. "...in a few _months_ , which...."

            "Is unacceptable," the Supreme Leader said.

            "Of course, my lord, we shall redouble..."

            Kylo Ren turned to Vesper. "What about that battlecruiser you mentioned earlier?"

            "Yes, _Relentless_ , beautiful ship." Vesper gestured towards Silva. "She's really Director Silva's brainchild."

            "Oh, we're all very proud of _Relentless_ at BuShips," Silva enthused. Up popped a new hologram of a sleek wedge-shaped warship, classic Star Destroyer lines except for the unusually large engines. "13 kilometers long. Cutting edge. Full command, control, and communications suite in the case the Supreme Leader is embarked."

            " _Tarkin_ has a full command suite too," Hux said. " _Will_ have."

            "Revolutionary power distribution system," Silva went on, gesturing with a fork and zooming in on various parts of the hologram too fast for anyone to follow. "Hyperspace tracking, hyperspace interdiction fields, axial superlaser...."

            Hux snorted. "With what, five percent the power of _Tarkin_?"

            "It can bring down 80 percent of planetary shields in five hours," Silva said, visibly hurt, "which Admiral Vesper's requirements division deemed acceptable."

            "Quite so, Silva," Vesper said. "And it's a _warship_ , not a superlaser with an engine bolted on."

            "Yes, good." Kylo Ren waved a hand impatiently. "You said it was fast?"

            "Yes, the original concept of operations was for deep raids into Republic territory," Silva said. "It's 18 percent faster than _Finalizer_ in realspace, but what matters strategically, of course, is speed in hyperspace. We've gotten her up to 24 percent faster, but she's still on trials, models say we should beat 30 percent."

            "30 percent faster?" Hux scoffed. "How could a ship that size possibly...."

            "That's really quite interesting," Silva said. "The clever bit's the coaxium coating."

            "No," Hux said hastily, "it was a rhetorical..."

            "To explain in layman's terms, you deliberately over- and under-buffer throughout the crystallization process," Silva went on happily, "so the final matrix...."

            "Turns the refinery into a smoking hole in the ground," Hux interrupted.

            "One time!" Silva looked indignant. "After that we tightened the baffle plate apertures, obviously."

            "Obviously," Kylo Ren drawled.

            "Wait," Lady Rey said, "shouldn't you _widen_ the apertures?"

            "Ah, you're thinking of the big annular baffle plates that control orthogonal venting in starship engines," Silva said. "Coaxium refineries use _in-line_ baffle plates."

            "Oh," Rey said, nodding, "so the apertures are _asymmetric_."

            "Asymmetric _and_ quasi-random, to reduce..."

            "Resonance!" they both said at once, and laughed.

            "So not like Star Destroyer baffles at all," she said, beaming. "Believe me, I spent my life climbing in and out of _those_."

            "Aha! So you _are_ from Jakku!" Silva said. Rey's smile vanished but he kept going obliviously. "But that's not a Jakku accent. You scavenged _Ravager_ , right?"

            "Yes...." Rey's voice had gone small.

            "I knew it. "Silva clapped his hands. "The video tech manuals for _Ravager_ were narrated in this lovely Core accent just like yours. Of course, normally a child would pick up their accent from their parents or friends, but.... oh. That's terribly sad."

            There was an awkward pause. The scraping of silverware on plates suddenly seemed very loud.

            "Perhaps," Hux said, "we've gotten a little off track."

            Rey nodded glumly as the Supreme Leader squeezed her hand and whispered something -- Klimenti thought it might, "but not to _me_ , remember?"

            "So, my lord," Vesper ventured, "can we agree that _Relentless_ will be your new flagship?"

            Kylo Ren looked straight at Silva for the first time. "How many days?"

            Silva flinched. "Soon, my lord, but we need to resolve some, ah, minor electrical issues before we resume trials so...." Kylo Ren didn't notice Vesper gesturing frantically at Silva, but Klimenti did. "....so, ah, we'd be _honored_ to have you aboard during the record-breaking final speed trials!"

            "So _immediately_?"

            "Tomorrow, sire," Silva squeaked.

            "But," Hux broke in, "we still need to accelerate work on _Tarkin_."

            "Why?" Vesper asked bluntly.

            "Planetary destruction capability is the linchpin of our strategy!" Hux snapped. "When we don't follow up the Hosnian System with another Starkiller shot, the galaxy _will_ start to believe it when the Resistance says it's been destroyed. We must have another superweapon to keep them in line."

            "And how long," Lady Rey scoffed regally, "before someone in an X-wing blows _that_ one up?"

            Dead silence. Even the silverware stopped scraping.

            "My lady," Hux said, "the destruction of Starkiller...."

            "Under _your_ command," Vesper said.

            "... was a fluke. We...."

            "A fluke?" Rey laughed mirthlessly. She'd rehearsed that too, Klimenti thought. "The Death Star. The _second_ Death Star. Starkiller. _Supremacy_. And now _Tarkin._ Then _Krennic_ , perhaps? And then what? Isn't one definition of _insanity_ doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result?"

            "My lady," Hux squirmed, "those are some very different designs, and Death Star I was sabotaged by Galen Erso...."

            "No, wait, she's right," Silva interrupted. "Galen Erso was a monster, obviously, but he couldn't have rigged the Death Star to blow up if it wasn't already pushing the limits of power management." More holograms popped up, abstract curves of energy yield. "I've always said the _inherent_ issue with superweapons -- besides putting too many eggs in one basket, of course -- is that you're channeling enough energy to destroy a planet through something much _smaller_ than a planet."

            "Starkiller..." Hux began.

            "All right, Starkiller _was_ a planet, but it was channeling enough energy to destroy a star system, so you've got the same problem just scaled up."

            "We've all heard this lecture before, Silva," Hux snapped.

            " _I_ haven't," Rey said. "Go on."

            "Well, if you're generating enough power to blow up something _bigger_ than yourself, it can blow _you_ up too, and _more easily_ it could destroy than the actual target, right? It just takes hitting one well-placed weak point -- Death Star I's exhaust port, Starkiller's thermal oscillator -- and.... BOOM!" Silva slammed the table. Everyone jumped. He chuckled childishly. "Enough resources to build a _fleet_ of conventional warships go up in smoke."

            "What. A. Waste." Rey said with exquisitely enunciated loathing.

            "But we _must_ rule through terror!" Hux said. "Even the old Empire couldn't garrison every planet. We have smaller numbers and stronger opposition. If we do not _crush_ the ringleaders, if we do not _demonstrate_ our superior power beyond all doubt, if we do not....What -- Lady Rey, what are you doing?"

            Hux was staring at Rey, who'd lifted her gilded dinner plate off the table -- the food started sliding off -- and was holding it up high.

            She smashed it to the floor.

            The beautiful porcelain shattered. Fragments flew everywhere. Klimenti heard a shard skitter past her foot.

            "Now why did I do that?" Rey asked the deathly silence. "Speak up!"

            "To...." Hux cringed. "....make some kind of point, my lady?"

            "To get our attention," Vesper said.

            "To _scare_ us," Klimenti said, speaking for the first time in the meeting. "The plate is Hosnian Prime."

            "Or Alderaan," Rey said, nodding. "Or whatever the next target ends up being. But do you see the _problem_ with this tactic?"

            "Your table setting is one short, my lady," Klimenti said. "You've destroyed your own property."

            "Exactly. It's _wasteful_." Rey gestured around the table. "These plates, this silver, the candelabras, Kylo's cloak, even the _dress_ I'm wearing" -- the girl grimaced -- "these are all trophies from one conquered planet or another."

            Rey smiled at the assembled officers. "After 30 years in exile in the Unknown Regions, laboring selflessly to restore order to the Empire, you all _deserve_ the spoils of victory. To go from black and white to gold and silver." Heads nodded all around the table.

            "But every world you burn is a world full of riches you'll never reap," Rey said. "Worlds that are yours by _right of conquest_ , because you are _strong_ and they are _weak_."

            Rey stood. Vesper jumped up as well and everyone but the Supreme Leader hastily followed.

            "The galaxy is _ours_ , ladies and gentlemen," Rey said. "Ours and our _children's_ , and their children's after them, an eternal empire. Why disinherit them? Every planet belongs to us and I will. Not. Part. With. _ONE_!"

            "Hail Lady Rey!" Hux shouted desperately.

            "HAIL LADY REY!"

            "Hail Kylo Ren!"

            "HAIL KYLO REN!"

            "Yes, yes," Kylo Ren said, "hail Vader and _sit down_."

            The officers obediently took their seats. Many of them were staring blissfully into space, no doubt daydreaming of grandchildren growing up in gilded palaces. The only reason Klimenti wasn't swept up with them was that a palace would just make her spoiled brat of a son even worse.

            Young they might be, but Rey and Kylo had played the room like a fiddle, she realized. Especially Rey. Like a bloody _fiddle_.

            Vesper wasn't daydreaming either, Klimenti realized suddenly. He was looking significantly at her. "Now?" she mouthed. He nodded.

            "My lord, my lady," Klimenti said firmly, "then we need a new strategy. We can't just occupy every major planet."

            "I _said_ that," Hux said.

            "There just aren't enough stormtroopers," Klimenti continued. "My troops are already spread thin and _dying_ , with casualties well above pre-war projections. They look up to you, Lady Rey, Supreme Leader, you can't throw their lives away."

            "We will not," Rey said fiercely. "I swear it."

            "We're raising auxiliaries from sympathetic systems to take over garrison..." Hux began.

            "They are not ready," came a harsh rasp. _Hocht_ had spoken up for once. All eyes turned to him, all ears strained to hear his smoke-damaged voice. "The Intelligence and Security Bureau is still vetting auxiliary contingents and installing political officers."

            "Surely," Hux said, "we could _accelerate_ that process, Hoch...."

            "Hoch _t_ ," Hoch said. "And if we turn this rabble loose on the universe without proper supervision, I will not be held responsible. We just be subsidizing thugs to travel from one world to another to avenge historical grudges we don't understand, and then it is _we_ , not the Republic, who will 'acquiesce in disorder.'"

            "If we do that," Rey said harshly, "we do not deserve to rule."

            A long silence.

            "My lady," Vesper said, "there _is_ another way."

            "Go on."

            "There is an alternative to the Tarkin Doctrine," Vesper said, "one endorsed long employed by Emperor Palpatine himself." He paused, and Klimenti wondered why he was dragging out the big reveal, until she saw him glancing at Hux. Only when Hux took a sip of coffee did Vesper say:

            "We should restore the Senate."

            "WHAT?" Hux tried to shout, except that he choked on his coffee and began coughing.

            Vesper looked extremely smug. "Before the first Death Star was operational, Emperor Palpatine retained the machinery of the Republic to channel dissent and ensure the willing cooperation of powerful interests. I propose we do the same."

            "Absurd!" Hux spat.

            "Intriguing," Kylo corrected.

            "Indeed," Hocht rasped. Klimenti realized he was thoroughly on their side now. "It is worth noting, my lord, that Palpatine ruled almost 20 years with the Senate -- over 30 if you count his term as Supreme Chancellor -- but survived only _four_ without it."

            "We can admire Palpatine without ignoring his errors," Vesper said.

            "Let the past die...." Kylo mused.

            "But the Senate became a hotbed of dissent...." Hux spluttered.

            "Better to have dissenters in the open where we can watch them," Hocht said. “Watch them and buy them off if necessary. Looking at the historical record, the Tarkin Doctrine is demonstrably inferior to what we might call the doctrine of cooptation.”

            As an orphan scavenger girl from nowhere just demonstrated by coopting this entire room, Klimenti thought.

            “But the Senate became a breeding ground for Rebellion,” Hux protested. “Have we all forgotten Leia Organa?”

            “We have not,” Kylo growled.

            “But this time the beautiful princess is on _our_ side!” Klimenti said, rising from her seat and pointing right at Rey until she remembered that was rude.

            Rey went rigid as everyone stared at her appraisingly. “Kassandra, you’re too kind...”

            “No I am not,” Klimenti said. “Believe me, I’m infamous for it. But I’ve spent the last hour watching and re-watching the recordings of you with our stormtroopers, and they _love_ you. The _Senate_ will love you. The _galaxy_ will.”

            “Love is not a strategy,” Hux scoffed.

            “But it is! Don’t you see?" Klimenti hit the table so hard her plate rattled. "We’ve always tried to rule the galaxy with fear of punishment and greed for reward. We’ve ceded the high ground of hope and love to our enemies without a fight."

            “Even at his most popular,” Hocht rasped thoughtfully, “Palpatine was a grandfather figure. Beloved, yes, a symbol of security, yes, but not of _hope_."

            “Exactly!” Klimenti said. “But now we have a young and glamorous ruling couple, full of hope for the future, ready to pop out adorable princes and princesses.”

            “Pop?” Rey muttered.

            “Many systems,” Hocht said, “retain ceremonial monarchies long after they’ve lost real power. Sentiment secures loyalty." He turned to the girl and smiled. "Lady Rey is more powerful than a Death Star.”

            “Hoch is right!” Klimenti said.

            “Hoch _t_...

            “Most people don't understand the taxation of trade routes, or the proper balance between central government and planetary self-determination, or Senate procedure, or secret galaxy-spanning schemes,” Klimenti said. “They don’t care. But what they do understand, what they do care about intensely, is _family_. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Kylo Ren — and now Ren and Rey and their future children. That’s our real superweapon: a ruling family for the galaxy to adore.”

            “They _will_ adore you,” Kylo said, turning to Rey and kissing her hand, “or they must fear _me_.” He rose from his chair. Everyone scrambled to their feet. He knelt before the trembling Rey. Everyone knelt with him.

            “Hail Rey, Orphan Empress,” Kylo said softly. From his slight smile and her wide eyes, he’d clearly planned this without telling her. “The Force is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

            Klimenti recognized the old Chandrilan litany that Kylo was repurposing, but there was more of it he didn't use. Something inside compelled her to speak up: "Holy Rey, Mother of Emperors, intercede for your servants with your dread lord Kylo Ren...."

            "Now and at the hour of our death," Kylo finished, pleased. He rose -- everyone stood -- and nodded his head to Klimenti. She bowed low in return.

            She couldn't help noticing that Rey looked pale.


	3. R.R.R.

_Rey_

         Rey’s arm was getting tired.

         She’d been walking the corridors of _Finalizer_ for less than ten minutes, escorted by Crimson and his red-stained stormtroopers, but everyone she saw saluted her, and it seemed only polite to salute them back.

         The regular black-clad crew weren’t too hard. They usually shouted “HAIL LADY REY!” and seemed happy with her “Hail Vader!” in return. But the stormtroopers.... they crashed to their armored knees in adoration, reciting the litany Kylo had coined only the day before:

         “Hail Rey, Orphan Empress, the Force is with thee! Blessed art thou and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

         About half of them added General Klimenti’s line asking the "Mother of Emperors" to "intercede" for them. "Mother" seemed premature, but she _was_ the Orphan Empress -- the orphan turned empress and the empress of orphans -- and they were _her_ orphans, ripped from their parents as children, just like her, and aching to be loved, just like her. She had Kylo to love her. They had only her.

         Their need was intoxicating and exhausting. She felt it in the Force and kept being compelled to stop, to utter soothing platitudes, to lay on hands, to bless blasters and kiss white helmets.

         It didn’t help that she had on, not one of her beautiful new dresses bought with innocent blood, but the simple grey outfit Leia Organa had given her on D’Qar. Before she left to find Luke Skywalker. Leia’s brother. The Last Jedi. The last hope of the Resistance. Whom she had killed.

         “Are you really wearing...” Kylo had asked as he watched her dress, one eyebrow raised. He had beautifully expressive eyebrows, but this time she didn’t like what they were expressing.

         “Yes, love,” she’d told him. “I’m going to see _her_.”

         “Ah.” He’d turned and wandered off across their bedroom, brooding shirtlessly, and she thought that would be the end of it, until he muttered: “Tell her... tell her... whatever you think I should have said.”

         “HAIL LADY REY!” brought her back to the present.

         “Hail Vader!” she replied, saluting the stormtroopers -- more of them with red Crait dust on their armor -- guarding the detention block. She looked around at the harsh black metal walls and shivered.

         “Don’t worry, my lady,” Crimson said, more perceptively than she’d expected. “The Queen Mother’s quarters have been made comfortable for her, as befits her station, in accordance with your orders. I saw to it myself.”

         " _Queen Mother"? "Befits"? "Accordance"?_ Rey remembered how young his face had been when he took off his helmet, but all she said aloud was, “thank you, Crimson.”

         "I am honored to serve my lady."

         She stood silent a moment, staring at the black metal door.

         "Deactivate all surveillance devices. I'll speak to her in private."

         "Very well, my lady."

         She went in alone.

         The cell was...

         Where had they found all this? When had they had time to do this? Had the _stormtroopers_ done this? She was simultaneously moved and appalled.

         She could still see the bare metal walls in places, but only at the seams of the white sheets somehow affixed to the walls and ceiling. The floor was covered with hand-woven carpets. There was a beautiful antique sofa with two matching chairs -- plunder from some ravaged world, presumably -- and a coffee table with gilt feet shaped like paws. There was a rack of elegant, no-doubt-looted clothing. There was a marble bust of a young and smiling Palpatine, next to a brass statuette of Darth Vader with a ruby lightsaber. There was a small bronze Death Star, possibly intended as a paperweight. And, against one wall, there was a life-sized hologram of Rey and Kylo standing together in _Finalizer_ 's hangar bay after the Battle of Crait, holding hands, surrounded by saluting stormtroopers.

         The only furniture that seemed unchanged was the black metal bed, and that was because Leia had ripped off the gold silk sheets -- God, those were probably _Snoke's_ sheets, they matched the ridiculous bathrobe thing he'd died in -- and thrown them on the floor.

         Leia was sitting on the metal bed, of course, wearing the same dusty clothes she'd worn on Crait.

         "Lady Rey," she rasped without looking up. "Or should I call you Empress? Or Darth?"

         "I'm not Sith," Rey said, clenching her jaw. "And I'm not an Empress. Officially. Not yet."

         "Not yet? Well, give it time." Leia got up -- slow and stiff and old -- and, never looking at Rey, shuffled towards the bust of Palpatine.

         "Shall I call you 'Princess'?" Rey said irritably. "Or maybe 'your worshipfulness'?"

         "A good question." Leia looked Palpatine up and down. "Your stormtroopers are calling me 'Queen Mother' now, have you noticed?"

         "Yes."

         "That's particularly interesting because 'Queen Mother' refers to someone who's not just the mother of the monarch, but a queen or former queen herself."

         "I .... yes, that's terribly interesting."

         "Oh, I'm just beginning. What am I queen of?"

         "I don't know. Leia...."

         "Well, I wondered if it was _Naboo_ , since my birth mother was Queen of Naboo, but that can't be it, because the monarchy of Naboo is _elective_ , not hereditary." Leia moved on from Palpatine to contemplate Vader. "The only _hereditary_ title I ever had, by adoption of course, was Princess." She picked up the little Death Star. "Princess of Alderaan."

         Rey's throat felt very dry.

         "So I'm wondering," Leia said, bronze Death Star in one hand, "if calling me 'Queen Mother' is just an exquisitely subtle insult, which seems a bit implausible for stormtroopers, but then you have to consider their surprisingly sophisticated _decorating style_ \-- or if Ben honestly means to legitimize his 'House of Vader' by retroactively making me queen of a planet that was destroyed by the same political system he's now trying to restore?" She dropped the Death Star on the carpet with a _thump_. "Because that's just _crass_."

         "I..." Rey wiped away some wetness from her eyes. "Honestly, he's hardly said a word about you."

         "I figured." Leia shuffled over to the sofa, stared at it in weary disgust for a moment, and then sat down heavily, eyes downcast. "Sit down, child, I'm too tired to fight."

         "I don't want to fight either, Leia. I want _end_ the fighting."

         Leia didn't gesture for her to sit and Rey didn't want to anyway.

         "How are my people?"

         "What?"

         "The people you graciously allowed to surrender," Leia said, tightly. "How are they?"

         "I...." Rey felt cold. "I'm honestly not sure."

         "Find out."

         "All right. It's not that I forgot, it's that so much is happening...."

         "Of course."

         "They're restoring the Senate."

         "What?" Leia looked up at that, a faint flicker of hope in her eyes. Then she looked down again. "Oh. The _Imperial_ Senate, of course. That's politically quite clever of them, actually. Your idea?"

         "Yes," Rey said, standing stiffly, almost at attention. "What I said about not being Empress yet -- I've convinced Kylo that we shouldn't claim the imperial title until it's conferred upon us _legitimately_...."

         "And what's your concept of _legitimacy_?"

         "The way it was conferred on Palpatine, by acclamation of the Senate."

         "Will you pretend to let them vote or just point blasters at them and tell them to cheer?"

         "We _will_ let the Senate vote," Rey said fiercely. "On that and everything else. It _won't_ be a rubber stamp, the War Council _thinks_ it is, but Kylo's promised me he'll grant it real power."

         "He'll _grant_ it real power? That's not how democracy works, dear."

         "And I kept them from building another pair of Death Stars, Leia, well, Death Star superlasers with engines bolted on at least, and strictly speaking I delayed it instead of stopping it altogether, but I'll keep trying, Leia, I'm _trying_ , and why won't you _look_ at me?"

         Leia looked at her with soul-crushing sadness.

         "Please don't look at me like that."

         "Okay," Leia said, looking down at the floor. "Eventually, kid, you'll have to make up your mind. About a lot of things."

         "What do you want me to _do_?" Rey wiped away real tears this time. Leia cleared her throat.... "Don't answer that."

         "Like I said, make up your mind."

         "Can -- can we agree that we both love your son? That we both want him to be happy? That we both want to help him?"

         "Kid, another thing you've got to figure out is the difference between 'help' and 'enable.'"

         "I _love_ him! I can _change_ him!"

         Leia looked up at her with a joyless smile. "Hoo boy. That one takes me back. Trust me, honey, because I know this from painful personal experience: You can love the living hell out of somebody, but they won't change unless _they_ want to."

         "I can _make_ him want to!"

         "Ohhhhhhh. Been reading Sith holocrons on how to have a happy marriage?"

         "That's not what I meant by 'make him' and I'm _not_ Sith."

         "Give it time, kid. Give it time."

         Rey drew her lightsaber -- Leia flinched -- and slashed one of the exquisite antique chairs in half. It was probably centuries old, she thought. Like killing a person. After she'd reduced it to charred pieces, she stood there panting, saber still ignited.

         "Like I said," Leia muttered, "give it time."

         There was a long and awkward pause, the only sound Rey's harsh breathing and the humming of her saber.

         "Why did you come here?" Leia said, putting one hand over her forehead as if she had a migraine. "What do you want? I wouldn't put it past Ben to send you to kill me, but I don't think that's it, so turn that thing off before you hurt yourself."

         Rey turned off her lightsaber and sat down heavily in the remaining chair. It creaked. "I came here.... I came to check if you were _okay_."

         "Well, that's just idiotic."

         "And I wanted to tell you everything I'd accomplished....."

         "I'm painfully aware of what you've _accomplished_."

         "....and give you fair warning that you're going to be moved."

         "What, back home to Alderaan? _Oh wait_. Never mind."

         "No," Rey said, grinding her teeth. "To _Relentless_."

         "Sounds homey. Another Star Destroyer?"

         "A battlecruiser. First of its class. Revolutionary power distribution system. Our new command ship."

         "Oh, we're _all_ going?"

         "Yes."

         " _Very_ homey. Why?"

         "We're going to -- Visshi, I think it's called? -- a neutral world in the Mid-Rim, anyway. To convene the new Senate. And a peace conference."

         "Which you'd like me to endorse, publicly, so my former Republic and Resistance comrades come out to play?'"

         "Yes. Another of my ideas," Rey said bitterly. "I suppose it wasn't a good one."

         "And when you get them all there, you'll fill the room with poison gas or collapse the building on them or just blow up the planet?"

         " _No_ ," Rey said, fingers itching for her saber, "Kylo has _promised_ me that we'll _negotiate_ with them."

         "Huh." Leia scratched her chin. "That's actually worse. You make these guys get smart, they'll probably win."

         "I'll take that for a 'no,' then." Rey stood up and stalked towards the door. "Kylo told me not to bother."

         "I wouldn't take that as a simple 'no,'" Leia called.

         Rey turned and looked Leia in the eye. "What should I take it as?"

         Leia met her gaze, unflinching. "Take it as an emphatic ' _fuck you, Rey_.'"

         Rey turned red and stormed from the room before she ignited her saber again.

         "My lady?" Crimson asked as the door hissed shut behind her. "Are you all..."

         "The Queen Mother will need another chair," Rey said.

         "As you wish, my lady," Crimson said. "Since we're about to pack her things for the _Relentless_ , perhaps we...."

         "Use your best judgment. Now take me to Lord Kylo."

 

***

 

         Kylo turned out to be on the bridge, which scuttled her original plan of throwing herself into his arms and sobbing hysterically. She went anyway, shambling through the corridors in a haze of mechanical Hail-Vaders that made her wonder if she'd need a cyborg arm herself.

         Kylo was speaking in low tones with Hux and Vesper but dismissed them with a nod and turned to her as she came towards him.

         "That bad?" he said in a low voice, with a slight I-told-you-so smile.

         "She.... _swore_ at me," she whispered or maybe whimpered, taking his hand and squeezing it while the bridge crew pretended not to look. "And not 'nerf-herder' or 'kriffing.' Like a real swear."

         "You should be proud." He kissed her forehead. "Even my father only got her to that point, oh, half a dozen times."

         Your father, whom you _murdered_ , but she suppressed that thought and kissed Kylo back. (An officer coughed disapprovingly in the background). "I'm proud of me if you are."

         "Always." He bent down to gently bump foreheads.

         She bumped back. "Was it like that every time _you_ screwed up as a kid?"

         "Often enough."  
         "I don't know how you stayed sane...." She leaned against him and sighed. He put his arm around her. They contemplated the stars.

         "That dot there is _Relentless_ ," he said. "Shall we shuttle over?"

         "Sure."

         They headed for the turbolift together. Crimson and her other guards were waiting respectfully out of earshot -- though they must have seen them kiss -- in front of one of the First Order banners with added V-for-Vader that had popped up all over the ship.

         "There's something different about this one," she said, pointing.

         The Y-shape of the Aurebesh "V" divided the First Order's toothed circle into thirds, but on this banner each third bore a vigorous slash of red. They were shaped like a 7: Aurebesh "R."

         "R.R.R.," he said. "What's that?"

         "Ren and Rey Reign, my lord," Crimson said, bowing slightly.

         "Or 'rule,'" piped up a stormtrooper.

         "CO-1901," Crimson said wearily, "we've _talked_ about this."

         "Sir, 'rule' has a double meaning...."

         "Which is too _slangy_ , Zero-One."

         "I still like..."

         Another stormtrooper, a female by her voice, cut in: "Stop trying to make 'rule' happen. It's not going to happen!"

         Rey snickered. The stormtroopers all snapped to attention. "Oh, don't...." She chuckled. "My beloved troopers...." She could feel their jolt of joy. "....I appreciate everything you do for me and Kylo. You've cheered me up immensely."

         "I trust," Kylo sighed, "that someone is eventually going to call the lift?"

         "Sorry, sire," Crimson said, mashing the button several times.

         "That said," Rey added, patting CO-1901 on the arm -- he nearly fainted -- "I do think that we'll stick with 'reign.'"

 

***

 

         "You shouldn't encourage them, you know," Kylo said when they were in the shuttle, with the stormtroopers safely in the passenger bay below. He was flying, so they were alone in the cockpit, which was nice.

         She looked up from the long list of candidates for military awards and noble titles, most of which they were creating on the spot: The First Order hadn't been big on medals, but she'd convinced Kylo they would inspire loyalty better than punishments. "Not encourage who?"

         "The stormtroopers. They're going to start strewing your path with flowers, or drawing pictures of you holding hands with them in crayon, or killing rats and laying them at your doorstop as offerings.... Hux's cat did that to me once."

         "Hux has a _cat_?"

         "Beastly little orange thing. Forget its name."

         "What. A . Surprise."

         "Anyway, you don't want to treat animals or stormtroopers _too_ well, Rey. They'll start thinking they're _people_."

         Rey gave him a long, hard look.

         "What?"

         "They _are_ people," she said. "Stormtroopers are, I mean. Not Hux's cat."

         "Interesting theory."

         "Everyone is people, Kylo."

         "In my experience, dear Rey, most people aren't."

         "Kylo!"

         "Rey, it's true." He was trying to sound coolly cynical but she could sense the hurt and hatred underneath. "They can be your friends for years, your own family, but they _turn_ on you in the night when you most need them."

         "Kylo..." She squeezed his hand.

         He squeezed back. "A good soul like yours is the rarest thing in the universe, Rey. Maybe the only one."

         "That's not true, Kylo," she said firmly, taking both his hands, "and one day, I'm going to change your mind about it."

         He smiled, a little less sadly. "If anyone can, love, it's you."

         She turned back to list of awards but couldn’t concentrate.

         "Kylo?" she asked without looking up.

         "Mmmm?"

         "What happened to the prisoners?"

         A pause. She still didn't look at him, but she felt his eyes appraising her. " _She_ asked you to ask that."

         "Yes. What happened to them?"

         She heard him shrug. "We gave orders they weren't to be harmed if they cooperated, didn't we? Everyone heard it."

         "But if they disobey?"

         He reached out and took her chin and forced her, not particularly gently, to look at him. "Then I'll kill them."

         She pulled herself free. "I should check on them. I promised...."

         "They're all still on _Finalizer_." He shrugged. "Too late to turn back now."

         "Oh. Okay." She tried to push away her worry.

         "The only thing that matters, Rey" -- his eyes were smoldering again -- "the only thing in the universe that matters is _us_. Let the rest go."

         "I can't, Kylo. Not completely."

         He sighed. "Just don't spend so much energy on your surrogate children" -- he nodded towards the deck below where the stormtroopers were -- "that you neglect your _real_ ones."

         She took his hand back and squeezed. "I want to work on that again soon."

 

***

 

         "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!"

         "Oh, right, that again," Rey muttered to herself as she stopped halfway down the shuttle's landing ramp.

         "Hail Vader!" Kylo shouted, saluting the assembled troops in _Relentless_ 's main hangar bay. He arched an eyebrow at her.

         "Hail Vader!" she forced out.

         "HAIL VADER!"

         He took her hand and led her through the chanting troops. A cluster of officers stood at attention in front of a huge First Order banner hastily emblazoned with V-for-Vader and the three R's. "You've got to get used to this, beloved," he whispered.

         "I know, I know...."

         A older woman with a severe bun of greying hair stepped forward from the other officers and saluted. "Hail Kylo Ren! Hail Lady Rey!"

         "Hail Vader," Kylo said with an offhand wave.

         "I am Senior Captain Ariadne Piett, commanding...."

         "Piett?" Kylo perked up. "Any relation to Darth Vader's last admiral?"

         "My uncle, lord."

         "One of the old Empire's finest." He grinned. "Lady Rey and I believe _passionately_ in the importance of family." Rey felt herself blushing, dammit....

         "Chief of Naval Operations Vesper is my father-in-law, as well."

         "Who?"

         "Mustache," Rey whispered.

         "Oh, _him_. Good man."

         "Thank you, my lord."

         "Anyone here related to _Hux_?" Kylo asked.

         "Not on this ship, my lord." She bowed and pointed towards the turbolifts. "Shall I take you to your quarters or the bridge first, sire?"

         "Quarters," Kylo said, with a hungry glance at Rey. Rey blushed more.

         "Of course." Piett led the way.

         One advantage of not being able to look anyone in the eyes, Rey realized, was that she noticed things at lower levels. "Captain, what's that on your belt?"

         "Pardon?"

         Rey pointed at the small black cylinder. "Your other officers -- your whole crew, actually -- have them too."

         "Ah." Piett turned away to press the turbolift button, but not before Rey noticed her wince. "That's rather a long and boring story." She led them into the lift and pressed the button. "It's a flashlight. Hopefully the issue won't...."

         With a soft buzz, all the lights went out.

         "....come up."

         There was an awkward pause. Rey couldn't see a thing. "Why," she asked, "aren't the emergency lights...."

         "Ahaha, that's another long and boring story," Piett said. Rey heard fumbling. "Let me just get...." Rey heard Piett's flashlight _klunk_ to the floor. "Aheh. Sorry, hands sweaty...."

         "I've got it," Kylo drawled.

         There was a telltale ominous hum....

         "Kylo, _don't_...." Rey gasped.

         ...and Kylo's lightsaber cut the darkness with crackling red.

         "Ahahaha eheh heh," said Piett, looking at the saber blazing just under her chin.

         " _Don't_!" Rey said.

         "Don't what?" Kylo smiled benignly. "I'm just getting us some light." He smiled less benignly. "And I'm sure the good captain will shed some metaphorical light on what the Supreme Leader of the First Order and his bride are _stuck in an elevator_."

         ("Bride?" Rey muttered, slightly dizzy).

         "Of course my lord. D-did Director Silva mention that the _Relentless_ has a revolutionary power distribution system?"

         "Once or twice," Rey said.

         "It's _very_ efficient at normal loads," Piett said bitterly, "and theoretically immune to cascading failures as long as you use high-quality relays."

         "Which you did not," Kylo said, not moving the saber from her throat.

         "Which one of Kuat-Entralla's _subcontractors_ didn't, my lord, as we discovered when we test-fired the superlaser at full power. 13 percent of the grid burned out at once and we've been picking dead relays out of the wiring ever since."

         "And the emergency lights?" Kylo prompted.

         "Use _reliably_ high quality relays that are compatible with the main power system, my lord."

         "So you've been" -- Kylo looked thoughtfully at Rey -- " _scavenging_ them to keep the ship operational? That's actually rather clever."

         The lights flickered back on and the turbolift began to rise.

         "I guess I won't need this after all." He turned off his saber. Piett and Rey both let out long sighs of relief. " _For now_."

            "Yes, my lord. It won't happen again," Piett said, then winced at Kylo's arched eyebrow. "It won't happen again _often_ , my lord."

         "Honesty is wise," he said.

         The lift doors opened. Stormtroopers snapped to attention. "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!"

         "Hail Vader," Kylo muttered.

         "My ears," Rey whimpered.

         "Take us to our bedroom," Kylo said, setting Rey's face on fire.

         "Yes sir!" The entire stormtrooper escort did an about-face and marched them into their luxurious quarters. Rey thought she might _die._

 

***

 

         "Get dressed, dear," Kylo said, tossing one of her silvery dresses over Rey, who lay blissed-out on the bed. Pretty much everything she'd picked out from the _Finalizer_ 's stolen collection was in some shade of gray, she thought idly, except for a couple of plainer things in black.

         "Shouldn't I _shower_ first?" she asked. "Or take a _bath_? I've read about baths, they sound _lovely_...."

         "You can take the girl off the desert planet..." Kylo sighed. "I _like_ the way you smell. Anyway we've been self-indulgent and we're out of time."

         "Oh." She quickly pulled on clothes. "Who are we seeing?"

         "Oh, just some old friends of mine," Kylo said.

         _He has old friends?_ she thought.

         _I heard that_ , he thought at her.

         _Sorry_. "I mean, sorry..... " She struggled with the dress.

         "Do you need help?"

         "Yes, please, with the -- the -- the claspy bit on the back of the frilly thing?"

         "The frilly thing is called a 'peplum,' dear."

         "Wherever did you learn.... All right, then, smartypants, what's the claspy bit?"

         "I think it's just called the clasp." He clasped it.

         "Oh. That's rather disappointing."

         "We shall make an imperial decree that it is to be called a 'Rey' henceforth in perpetuity."

         "Not until the Senate acclaims us, dear."

         "Yes, yes, yes." He offered her an arm and they sauntered towards the door.

         "So where are we meeting these people?" she asked as he entered the unlocking code.

         "The sitting room."

         "The sit.... but that's right...."

         "Just don't show the slightest sign of weakness," Kylo whispered with a smile.

         The door opened. Four masks, blank and black, looked up at her. They covered the faces of the four black-armored people lounging about the elegant sitting room, which was of course right next to the bedroom.

         "You guys are _loud_ ," one of the black masks said, the voice distorted electronically into something deep and ominous.

         Rey flashed back to a rainy night, a dark plain strewn with mangled bodies, and Kylo in his mask, lightsaber blazing, standing with six armored figures.....

         "Where are the other two?" she asked hoarsely.

         "What?" came the distorted voice from another of the masks.

         "There should be six of you," Rey said fiercely. "Where are the other two?"

         A different masked figure-- she thought this voice came from yet another one, maybe a female, but it was hard to tell -- said, "They're dead."

         Rey nodded, fighting the sick feeling in her stomach. "Of course."

         "These," Kylo said, gesturing at the four, who were now getting up, "are the Knights of Ren." He turned to the Knights. "This is Lady Rey."

         A pause.

         "Now," Kylo said in a deceptively calm voice, "is a good time to _kneel_."

         The Knights of Ren looked at each other. Then, one by one, they knelt before Kylo. They knelt before Rey too, because she was standing next to him, but she had the strong impression they weren't kneeling _to_ her.

         _Don't show weakness._

         "Remove your masks," Rey said as haughtily as she could manage. "I've seen Ben's face...."

         At that name the Knights went very still.

         "...and I can bloody well see yours. Show my your faces and speak your names."

         The Knights looked at Kylo. The one that might be female said, "Kylo...."

         "Do it." His voice crackled like electricity in the air before a lightning strike.

         "As you wish, my master," the Knight said, with a sourness audible even through the distortion. And then, with a _kchik_ and a _hiss_ and a _thunk_ , the mask was off and in the hands of a young woman, no older than Kylo, with dark skin and curly dark hair and an aristocratic sneer. She bowed her head almost imperceptibly to Rey. "I am Kindjal Ren."

         The next Knight, biggest of the four, removed his mask. He was bald, square-jawed, broad-shouldered, with faint green scales under his eyes that suggested not-quite-human ancestry. "Sobek Ren."

         The shortest, slightest Knight followed suit. He -- she? -- _they_ had short, raggedly cut blond hair and alarmingly pale skin that suggested long stays in unhallowed places underground. "Mercure Ren."

         The last Knight hesitated. Then she -- and this one was unmistakably female even before she took off the mask -- pulled off her helmet roughly and slammed it to the floor. "Moira Ren!"

         She was beautiful, Rey saw with a sinking feeling, in all the ways that Rey was not: fierce red curls tumbling down as they were freed from the helmet, pale skin with a hint of freckles, blazing green eyes.

         Moira Ren was very beautiful and very _angry_.

         Rey was very grateful she had her lightsaber.

         Her first instinct was a conciliatory _pleased to meet you_ but she caught herself and went with an icy: "Now, that's better."

         "I'm glad you're glad," said the little blond(e) one -- Mercure, which _sounded_ male. "Now we've all met her, Kylo, can we go? I was in the _middle_ of an excavation on Mustafar of what's probably Vader's missing cache of Sith..." Sobek smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow."

         "I take it congratulations are in order?" drawled the haughty one -- Kindjal Ren. "Now that you're an old married man?"

         _Were_ they married? Rey thought, but the big one, Sobek, said it aloud: "Are you two actually married?"

         "She said 'take me' in front of a few thousand witnesses," Mercure said. "And he said 'yes.' That sounds like a marriage to me. At the very least, a great case for breach of promise. Also my head hurts now and can I go?"

         This tiny androgynous person was not what Rey had expected of a .... whatever they were. None of them was.

         "We're married." Kylo smiled. "I hereby decree it as Supreme Leader to dispel any doubt."

         _That's it?_ Rey thought.

         "You have the romantic soul of a poet," Kindjal drawled.

         "The Force brought us together and the First Order witnessed it," Kylo said. "That's poetry enough. I'm just saving us a trip to the city clerk."

         Moira glared at Rey. "I thought," she spat bitterly, "that we gave up _all that_ when we dedicated ourselves to the Force."

         "Neither the Jedi nor the Sith...." began Mercure .

         "Then how fortunate we're neither Jedi nor Sith," Kylo said, "but something new and better." He sat down in a loveseat and pulled Rey down -- almost onto his lap, in fact, but she wriggled desperately and ended up beside him, hip to hip. The others remained kneeling. "Get used to the idea of matrimony, my friends. I heartily recommend it."

         "And by 'recommend,'" Kindjal said, "you mean 'command.'"

         "What?" Moira spluttered.

         "Your future rulers will need playmates in childhood and nobles in adulthood," Kylo said. (Rey started blushing again, dammit). "You will all marry."

         "What?" Moira repeated. "You _can't_ ... don’t our _feelings_ even..."

         Mercure looked at Kindjal. "So I have to marry _her_?" Everyone looked at him. "What? Sobek likes boys and Moira likes, well, you know."

         "I rather think," Kindjal said, looking Rey up and down in cold appraisal, "that the only two Force users allowed to marry are the happy imperial couple."

         "Ah," said Mercure . "So our kids don't get too powerful."

         "There are other kinds of power," Kylo said. "You will all make _political_ matches with prominent First Order families before the year is out."

         "Kylo...." Sobek said.

         "Sobek can _like_ whom he pleases but he _will_ produce heirs."

         "Yes, Master," Sobek sighed, bowing his head.

         "How can you just _accept_ this? " Moira seethed. "What else will you dictate to us? Shall Sobek follow your example and take a _child bride_?"

         The sentence hit like a slap. Rey glared at Moira: "I _beg_ your pardon?"

         "She _is_ a child," Moira protested. "What is she, Kylo? Sixteen?"

         _Nineteen_! Rey bit that back.

         "Nineteen," said Mercure. "Does nobody else ever read anything? It's all in her interrogation file."

         From the time Kylo captured her. _I can take whatever I want...._

         "So a whopping three years younger than you," Mercure said calmly. "Older than you were when we left."

         "When you left...." Rey said. It blazed in their minds: the clash of sabers, the burning temple, the friends they'd left dead on the ground. "You're all Luke's students."

         "We _were_ ," Kindjal Ren said haughtily. "Until he betrayed us all by trying to murder B..." She shook her head, irritated at herself. "Kylo."

         _When did_ I _stop calling him 'Ben'_? Rey wondered, and she was so off balance at the thought she lost her place in the conversation.

         " _We_ were with you from the beginning, Kylo," Moira seethed, starting to stand. The big one, Sobek, put a hand on her shoulder with surprising gentleness but she shrugged him off. "We _trusted_ you when you said Skywalker tried to kill you. We killed our _friends_ when they tried to stop us. We burned the temple and left everything behind! And now you make us _kneel_ to this _nobody_ from _nowhere_ you just met!"

         "You _love_ him!" Rey blurted out. She couldn't help but laugh.

         Moira's face burned red. "We _all_...."

         "And Kylo is _oblivious_!" Rey continued, knowing she shouldn't say it out loud, but she'd be _damned_ if this bitch deserved politeness.

         "Oblivious to what?" Kylo said, struggling to catch up. "What'd you just say about Moira?"

         "Moira's been in love with you since Luke's temple," Mercure said flatly. (An image flashed in Rey's mind: A teenage Moira screaming at the blood on her hands, Kylo holding her, stroking her hair....).

         "Mercure," sighed Kindjal, "please _stop helping_."

         "Who said I was trying to help?"

         "I don't need anyone's _help_ ," Moira seethed. "And this isn't about _my_ feelings."

         "We're basically Sith," Mercure said emotionlessly. "It's all about feelings."

         "You're. Not. _Helping_."

         "It's about some _usurper_ shaking her little _bottom_ for Kylo and...."

         "Shaking my...." Rey couldn't help it. She _laughed_. She laughed and laughed and wiped tears from her eyes and Moira Ren stood there steaming.

         Kylo chuckled.

         Moira Ren _screamed_ and threw herself at Rey, a lightsaber Rey hadn't even seen igniting in a blaze of red. The others started to rise. Kylo went for his saber....

         But this time Rey was faster. She snapped up her hand and the Force threw Moira Ren across the room into the wall. The girl bounced off -- her saber went flying -- and fell onto an antique chair ( _not another one!_ ) and smashed it to splinters.

         "Y-you...." Moira said through bloody lips, reaching for her saber.

         " _Me_ ," Rey said, swatting aside the girl's feeble efforts in the Force and grinding her into the floor with an invisible hand. "The _nobody_ from _nowhere_ who was chosen by the _Force_ to be the _equal_ of Kylo Ren, the light that rose to meet his darkness! The nobody from nowhere Kylo Ren chose to be his _bride_!"

         She felt Kylo's eyes on her, the others' too. She felt Moira's ribs beginning to give. Very well. Let this be the defining moment.

         "The nobody from nowhere," she shouted, "who will _bear his children_!"

         "P-please...." Moira hissed as the Force crushed the air out of her.

         " _I am the MOTHER of EMPERORS_!" Rey roared.

         Then she let Moira go.

         "And. I. Am. _Merciful_."

         Moira whimpered and shook and coughed up blood.

         "He will never be yours, little Moira Ren," Rey said. "But I grant you leave to look upon him, adore him, and _despair_. I will even let you stand closer to him than any person in the galaxy except me."

         Moira managed to look up, utterly lost, eyes filled with tears and a little blood.

         "I will make you my _handmaiden_ , Moira Ren," Rey said, and the girl groaned. "You shall accompany me everywhere. You will do whatever I say, however dangerous or demeaning. You will speak when you are spoken to. You will strike down such of my enemies as are, like yourself, _unworthy_ of my blade. And you will sleep on the floor outside our bedroom chamber like a _dog_."

         Moira looked up at her a long time. Then she croaked: "Yes, mistress."

         "Who is Master of the Knights of Ren?" Rey asked, without turning back to look at the rest of them.

         "Kylo Ren," they chorused.

         "And who is their _Mistress_?"

         A pause. Then the aristocratic voice of Kindjal Ren: "You are, Lady Rey."

         Rey turned. The other three went back down on their knees. "Hail Lady Rey," they said, looking at each other sideways.

         "Good," she told them. Then, without looking at her: "Moira! Get up."  
         "Yes, mistress...." The girl gasped in pain but managed to stand.

         "Bring your saber and come with me," Rey said. "Your first task is to help me organize the clothes I brought over from _Finalizer_."

         "Yes, mistress." Numbly humble now.

         Sobek cleared his throat. "Moira, do you need...."

         "I'm fine," Moira rasped.

         "You're not," Mercure said. "You're bleeding."

         Rey strode back past the three Knights, past Kylo -- she shot him an icy glare -- and back into the bedroom. She could hear Moira limping along after her.

         "So, Moira my dear," Rey asked as she closed the door behind them, "first of all, do you even know what a peplum is?"

 

***

 

_Vesper_

         "....so to ensure they don't vote the wrong way in the Senate, I would recommend deploying forces _here_ ," Director Hocht said, pointing at the holographic map.

         "Where?" General Klimenti squinted. "The writing's tiny...."

         "You know," Breis Silva pouted, "the _Relentless_ has _beautiful_ conference rooms with high-resolution holographic projections and actual _chairs_ that we could be using instead of _sitting on crates in the dark_." He gestured around the half-empty storage bay, lit only by the blue glow of the hologram.

         "We're in the dark," Klimenti said, "because your revolutionary power management system keeps burning out."

         "But the conference rooms...."

         Vesper sighed and smoothed his mustache. "Breis, old boy, I keep telling you, Hux probably has your precious conference rooms bugged."

         Silva sniffed. "Isn't that Hoch's job?"

         "Hoch _t_ ," Hocht said. "Of course _I_ have them all bugged, but _so does Hux_."

         "Ridiculous duplication of effort," Silva muttered.

         "In any case," Hocht said with a sharp look at Silva, " _as I was saying_ , the Sarasvati sector's political reliability is in question, so we need to remind where the power lies. I suggest...."

         "Do you hear someone?" Klimenti whispered.

         They all froze.

         "No," Vesper said after a moment, just as three cloaked, hooded figures emerged from the shadows. "Gah!"

         "Who goes there?" Klimenti said, hand on her blaster.

         The three figures pushed back their hoods: a tall, haughty dark-skinned woman; an even taller hulk of a man with green scales under his eyes; and a small androgynous person with unruly blond(e) hair.

         "Who are you?" Klimenti said, not moving her hand.

         "They're the Knights of Ren," Silva said with a "duh" implicit at his tone. He pointed at the woman, man, and androgyne in turn: "Kindjal. Sobek. Mercure ."

         "Very good," Kindjal Ren said, her slight smile hovering between annoyed and amused.

         "Hail Vader," Vesper said, less forcefully than he'd have liked. _God_ , he thought, _they're so young._

         "I've never seen you without your masks," Klimenti said, slowly taking her hand away from the blaster.

         "Roles change," Kindjal said.

         "Specifically," the androgynous Mercure said, "Kylo wants us to marry prominent First Order families and have Force-sensitive babies to serve as the aristocracy of the restored Galactic Empire."

         Klimenti stared at Mercure .

         Kindjal glared at him.

         Sobek shrugged his broad shoulders. "So much for subtlety."

         "What?" Mercure said. "I just saved us all a lot of time."

         "How fortunate," Vesper said, recovering his composure and pulling out a data pad, "that I am a typical indulgent grandfather and always carry pictures of multiple young people related to myself who are, if I may say so, beautiful and talented."

         "And well connected," Hocht muttered.

         "Director Hocht has never married," Vesper said cheerfully. Hocht glared at him. "And General Klimenti is divorced _and_ under forty."

         "Navarre," Klimenti spluttered, "do you really...."

         "I'm not married either," Silva said. He looked at Mercure . "Are you a man or a woman?"

         Mercure rolled his eyes. "I'm a man. A _heterosexual_ man. Why does everyone think...."

         "Think how much _time_ he saved by being direct," Kindjal drawled.

         "I guess," Sobek rumbled, "that I should warn everyone that I'm _not_ heterosexual but will do my duty to reproduce."

         "That's.... ah... very thoughtful of you," Klimenti said.

         "So, Duke Hocht," Kindjal Ren said, sliding up to him and taking his hand, "what do your intelligence assessments say about age disparities in married couples? _I_ don't think it's a problem."

         " _Duke_?" Hocht said, arching an eyebrow.

         "Oh, Kylo has presents for all four of you." She led him off.

         Silva sighed. "Out in the cold again...." He sighed, then looked around. "Wait, where's the other female? Moira Ren?"

         "She...." Mercure began.

         Sobek cut him off: "Important work for Lady Rey."

 

***

 

_Rey_

         "What's your real name, Moira?" Rey asked coldly, leaning back in the gigantic bath so the girl could comb out her hair for her.

         "My lady?"

         "Your original name. From before you turned."

         "Marie Ash Naberrie, my lady." Moira/Marie picked another tangle out of Rey's hair and paused. "Mistress, is 'Rey' your Ren name or...."

         "It is my _only_ name," Rey snapped. "I have not turned."

         "Oh."

         "I have _not_." Rey felt her anger rising and took refuge in icy imperiousness. "I stand in the light, reaching into the darkness. Kylo stands in the dark, reaching back towards the light and Ben. Together we will bring balance to the Force and peace to the galaxy."

         "As you say, my lady....." Moira started brushing again.

         "Well, they've all gone to stalk spouses," Kylo said, ambling into the enormous marble bathroom and looking them over appreciatively. "And you two seem cozy. No blood on the floor or anything."

         "The poor child has bled enough," Rey said. "You put me in a _terrible_ position out there. Someone might have _died_. Not me, obviously, but _someone_."

         "My lady is merciful," Moira murmured. "Merciful."

         "You do realize," Kylo said, frowning, "that you have her sitting on the wet bathroom floor in, what, a 500-credit Casa della Motti dress?"

         "It's black and doesn't suit me," Rey said. "And how do you know so much about women's fashion, anyway?"

         "His mother...." Moira began, then stopped at a glare from Kylo.

         "Go on, Moira," Rey said.

         Moira looked uncertainly from one of them to the other.

         "Rey...." Kylo growled.

         "She'll answer my questions because she's _mine_ , Kylo," Rey growled right back. "That's the _least_ you owe me after the nightmare you threw me into."

         "If I'd warned you, you'd have overthought it, over-empathized, and they'd have seen that as weakness," Kylo said dismissively. "I'm teaching you to trust your instincts."

         "Sometimes I wonder if I should trust yours," Rey said.

         Kylo clenched his fists, then looked at Moira, then looked at Rey, then smirked. "I have one instinct you're definitely triggering in your current state."

         Rey rolled over slowly in the bath, showing off her... _back_ and hiding her blush at the same time. "Flatterer."

         "You know, we have an hour or two before we have to meet the pro-First Order Senators. Captain Piett's still touring them around the _functioning_ parts of the ship." Kylo pulled off one black glove. "Moira, leave us."

         "No," Rey said, surprising herself.

         "What?" Kylo and Moira said at once.

         "She is my handmaiden and I say whether she stays or goes." Rey turned to Moira, who sat on the floor, eyes downcast. "You will remain with us and you will _not_ look away."

         "Yes, mistress...." Moira said, reluctantly raising her eyes.

         "Rey...." Kylo said, uncomfortably frozen halfway through removing his other glove.

         "It is time," Rey said as she rose glistening from the bath, "to work on making me the Mother of Emperors."

 

***

 

         _"My eyes have seen the glory of the rise of Kylo Ren!_

_"His blade will bring the order of the Empire back again!_

_"He will sweep aside corruption, he will make things right, and then_

_"His troops go marching onnnnn!"_

         Kylo Ren looked grimly at the shining faces of the Eriadu United Children's Choir and clenched the arms of his ebon throne. "Kill me now...." he muttered. "I finally understand why Palpatine became so reclusive..."

         "I think they're very sweet," Rey chided, smiling. Her throne was silver.

         " _Glory to the Heir of Vader!_

_"Glory to the House of Vader!_

_"Glory to the Heir of Vader!_

_"His troops go marching on!"_

         Hux stood at Kylo's right hand, smiling and tapping his feet, with Vesper, Klimenti, Hocht, and Silva flanking him. Moira Ren stood rigid at Rey's left, eyes downcast, with the other Knights of Ren -- all unmasked -- flanking her.

         "We should marry _them_ ," Kylo murmured, nodding first towards Hux and then Moira.

         "What?" Rey whispered, shocked. "That's _cruel_."

         "Think of the adorable red-headed children." He gestured at the choir. " _You_ like children."

         _"When the stormtroopers are marching in their gleaming garb of white_

_"And the Navy sails the stars in their garments black as night_

_"We will flock behind his banner and we'll join the righteous fight!_

_"His troops go marching onnnnnn!"_

         Rey frowned. "Aren't they using the tune from...."

         "Yes, yes, they are," Kylo said, rubbing his temples.

         _"His troooooops.... gooooo.....maaaaaaarchiiiiing...... ONNNNNNNN!"_

         Wow, that last note was _high_.

         The audience -- mainly First Order officers in black and puppet senators in rich but somber robes -- burst into applause. Rey clapped and nudged Kylo. He rolled his eyes and then clapped too.

         They stood and the applause turned to chants of "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!"

         _Do you remember your lines?_ Rey thought at Kylo.

         _Yes_. Somehow he managed to sound sullen even through the Force.

         _Do you remember their_ names _?_

         _Yes, mom._ He raised one hand and the crowd fell silent as he engaged the audio pickup sewn into his collar. "My loyal friends!"

         "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!" More chanting and applause. Kylo grimaced at the interruption in a way that the audience hopefully mistook for a regal smile.

         "My fierce warriors, my noble senators, I salute you!"

         _Don't roll your eyes_ , Rey snapped telepathically as the chanting and applause started up again.

         "Thank you, Senator Tarkin, for that stirring performance by the Eriadu Children's Choir," Kylo said. There was polite applause. Tarkin, a mutton-chopped middle-aged man bearing no resemblance to his famous great-uncle, bowed.

         "It is truly a time for celebration and for rededication to our great cause," Kylo said. "Tomorrow, we arrive at Visshi Prime for the first convocation of the Senate under lawful authority in over thirty years!"

         A few people started cheering but he talked right over them and they quieted back down. "Just as our star fleet, our stormtroopers, and our new Auxiliary Legions advance in a united front across a galaxy crying out for law and order, the people of all planets depend on our loyalist Senators to vote as a united bloc!"

         Kylo shut down a renewed attempt at cheering. "Do not be overconfident, my friends! Did not the Republic die the death of a thousand compromises at the hands of perfidious Senators? Even today, with our votes reinforced by hundreds of newly named Senators from First Order territories in the so-called Unknown Regions -- worlds never sullied by the corrupt Republic! -- we must resist all temptations to lose focus. The only path to a _majority_ is through _unity_! Hail Vader!"

         "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY! HAIL VADER!"

         Kylo returned to his throne and Rey stood. This time there was no eruption of fierce cheers and chanting, but the soft rolling thunder of a thousand voices joined in prayer:

         "HAIL, REY, ORPHAN EMPRESS, THE FORCE IS WITH THEE.

         "BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN, AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB.

         "HOLY REY, MOTHER OF EMPERORS, INTERCEDE FOR YOUR SERVANTS WITH YOUR DREAD LORD KYLO REN,

         "NOW AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH."

         Many in the audience were on their knees. All the stormtroopers were. Many were weeping. Once again Rey felt their overpowering need: the need to be loved, to be seen, to hear one's name spoken in a gentle voice after a lifetime of shouting....

         "My beloved people...." she began. A thousand voices sighed in chorus. "....our Supreme Leader reaps the corrupt and rebellious with his strong right hand, but he rewards the righteous and loyal with his gentle left. Tonight, we honor the heroes of the First Order. We shall see their faces and speak their names!"

         Rey turned to the ranks of kneeling stormtroopers. "Squad Leader Crimson, arise and come before the throne." Crimson rose -- the red dust of Crait now sealed permanently onto his helmet -- and marched up the steps to kneel before her and Kylo.

         "Remove your helmet." He did, blinking at the light. Once again she was shocked by how young he was.

         Rey turned to Kylo, who stood. A huge screen behind him now displayed Crimson's face surrounded by the decorations he was about to receive.

         "Supreme Leader," Rey said, checking what she had to say against the screen, "I present to you your loyal servant, Crimson CN-9475, who for his valor and loyalty is to be ennobled as first Knight-Commander of the Crimson Legion of Crait and promoted to Captain of our bodyguard."

         "So I command," Kylo said. With his left hand, he gave Crimson a gold metal set with a red star. He raised his right arm in salute. "Hail Crimson!"

         "HAIL CRIMSON!" roared the stormtroopers, leaping to their feet. "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!"

         Crimson headed down the steps as Rey called out, "Trooper EK-4201, arise and come before the throne....."

         He was a stormtrooper who got the name "Breaker" and an Obsidian Fist of Vader for rallying his company after their commander had been killed and personally blowing a hole in a New Republic bunker. Next was a naval petty officer who'd saved a hundred people from the fire on _Supremacy_ (Obsidian Shield of Vader). Then a TIE reconnaissance pilot shot down on a hostile planet who'd found her way back to the First Order bearing vital intelligence (Eye of Vader). A camouflage-clad Auxiliary from some godforsaken planet who'd hunted down a Resistance cell (Auxiliary Cross)....

         "Prisoner Connix, arise and come before the throne," Rey said, then froze as a tiny woman in shackles rose unsteadily and started limping up the stairs. She recognized the girl from a brief encounter on D'Qar, but barely: The blond hair had all been cut off, the baby-fat cheeks were sunken, her brown eyes dull. The fingers of her left hand were locked in an awkward, crabbed position.

         ("We have to include Connix," Hocht had argued with surprising vehemence, Rey recalled. "We have to show the enemy they _can_ survive if they surrender and cooperate, that they needn't fight to the death. Ultimately, my lady, it will save lives on both sides.")

         Now, turning to Connix's haunted face blown up on the big screen, Rey wasn't so sure. "Supreme Leader," she said, forcing the quaver out of her voice, "I present to you your repentant servant, Kaydel Ko Connix, formerly of the Resistance, who submitted to lawful authority and provided valuable intelligence on terrorist operations, to be released from captivity and promoted to Auxiliary Interrogator."

         "So I command," Kylo said with a strange softness. He gestured and Connix's shackles unlocked themselves and clattered to floor. "Go and sin no more."

         Connix bowed -- for a moment Rey feared she'd topple over -- and then began the long, slow shuffle down the stairs. There was an awful, awkward silence. Of course, Kylo hadn't hailed her, and Rey couldn't either, but....

         "The Supreme Leader is strong and merciful!" Rey cried out, sounding shrill in her own ears. "Hail Kylo Ren!"  
         "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!"

         After that it was a parade of dignitaries, including a smug Senator Tarkin as "Duke of Eriadu and Knight-Commander of the Opal Order of Palpatine," which Rey vaguely remembered proposing as a reward for politicians about six hours earlier. She wondered what poor First Order supply clerk had to get all these medals made so fast: They seemed to be all stamped from the same mold, with only the jewel varying. Rey had an ugly guess where the jewels came from.

         _Vesper's pushing Tarkin for the Chancellorship,_ Kylo sneered over their mental bond. _All the fine old families_.

         There was so much applause and cheering for each recipient from comrades in arms or political allies that the hour-long ceremony Kylo had insisted on dragged on for two. At last, they reached the final nine:

         "....your loyal servant Breis Silva, who for his leadership designing and building the First Order's victorious fleet, including this mighty battlecruiser _Relentless_ " -- the lights hadn't even flickered through the whole ceremony, perhaps because Piett had stripped spare relays from throughout the ship, perhaps because Silva had spent the entire time staring up at them and mouthing silent prayers -- "is to be made Duke of Kuat, Knight-Commander of the Topaz Legion of Krennic, and Marshal of the Shipyards."

         Kylo pressed a marshal's baton, glittering blue with its coating of depleted coaxium, into Silva's sweaty, shaking hands. _Don't drop it_ , Rey silently pleaded. Of course he dropped it, but she was ready and caught it with the Force before it hit the floor. She thought only Kylo saw, and he just rolled his eyes. Silva smiled a rictus of pathetic gratitude and scurried back down the stairs.

         Next was "...your loyal servant, Moira Ren, who for her loyal service to us both is to be made Duchess of Naboo...." ( _Her mother's from there_ , Kylo thought at her. _We're actually distant cousins_. She thought back: _Good. Another reason to marry me instead_ ). "....and my own Imperial Handmaiden." Moira trembled as Kylo draped a golden chain around her neck.

         "....Kassandra Klimenti....Duchess of Waffen...." ( _It's the main stormtrooper training base, out in the Unknown Regions._ ) ".... Knight-Commander of the Emerald Legion of Veers, and Field Marshal of the First Order!" Her marshal's baton was inlaid with ivory to represent stormtrooper armor.

         "....Sobek Ren... Duke of Kashyyyk...." ( _It's a strategic location and if anyone can impress the Wookies into laying down their arms, he can._ ) "... and Imperial Champion!" He got a golden glaive, a blade on one end and a socket for his light saber on the other. Rey rather thought it was same staff weapon he'd been carrying in her vision, just spray-painted gold.

         "....Leslie Hocht... Duke of Chandrila..." ( _Kylo, didn't you grow up there?_ she asked mentally. _Yes, and it's a cesspool of rebels_ , he shot back. _He'll clean it up._ ) ".... Knight-Commander of the Iron Legion of Yularen, and Marshal of Discipline." His baton was a simple rod of iron. Hocht had insisted on that.

         "....Mercure Ren... Duke of Mustafar ...." ( _He's there digging holes around grandfather's estate anyway_.) "....and Keeper of Relics...." He accepted his Sith holocron with a roll of his eyes, since he'd found it himself on Mustafar and given it to Kylo a few hours before.

         "....Navarre Vesper... Duke of Tirpitz...." ( _The main fleet base in the Outer Rim_ ). "... Knight-Commander of the Sapphire Legion of Piett, and Grand Admiral of the Fleet." He got a marshal's baton of jet set with diamonds to represent stars in space.

         "....Kindjal Ren... Grand Duchess of Byss..." ( _Palpatine's secret retreat)_ "...and Mistress of Assassins...." She smiled as Kylo gave her a long knife.

         "....Armitage Hux....Knight of Crait, Knight-Commander of the Ruby Order of Tarkin, Grand Duke of Wannsee...." ( _Actually I forget where that is, but it's supposed to be quite nice._ ) "... and High Marshal of the First Order!" Kylo handed him, not a mere baton, but a six-foot staff of office, made of ebony, with a golden spearhead at the top in the shape of the _Finalizer_. Rey thought it was over the top but Hux was so delighted he twirled it as the crowd shouted "HAIL HUX!"

         _Insufferable preening ass_ , Kylo thought sourly as he ducked the swinging Star Destroyer.

         _We still need him_ , Rey reminded the sulky Supreme Leader.

         _At least that's finally over_ , Kylo thought as he took her arm and paraded her down the stairs, followed in order of rank by all their new nobles and awardees. _Any longer and I would have murdered someone. Several someones._

         _Just wave and smile, Kylo. They love us. Wave and smile._

 _No_ , he snarled, glaring straight ahead.

         _We have the reception next._

         _HELL. NO._ He strode out of the great hall, wrenching her arm as he dragged her along.

 

***

 

         "....but I'm afraid the Supreme Leader must meditate on the Force, which he must restore to balance," Rey said to Senator/Duke Tarkin, who must have been the twentieth guest who'd asked. It was sort of true. "Always duty before pleasure for my lord." Behind her, Moira Ren broke her evening-long silence with a tiny, helpless squeak of bitter laughter.

         "Ah, the mighty Kylo Ren tirelessly protects his people so we can enjoy the pleasures of a peaceful, orderly galaxy," Tarkin said, grabbing a drink from a passing droid.

         "Already practicing for your speech to the Senate?" Rey said, trying to sound amused instead of revolted.

         "If Your Majesty thinks it a good line, I shall certainly add it."

         "Just remember many of the Senators _not_ from loyalist worlds lost colleagues and loved ones on Hosnian Prime," Rey said. Then she turned and stormed away, Moira at her heels, before she crushed Tarkin's trachea with the Force. She firmly believed she was on the right side of history now, but why were so many of these people so _awful_?

         "My lady!" a voice called from across the throng of mingled officers and Senators. "Lady Rey!"

         Oh, hell. Hux.

         Pale face flushed with pride and plundered wine, Hux cleared his path through the crowd with his staff of office and descended on them before they could escape. "The _beautiful_ Lady Moira, and the equally beautiful Lady Rey, my beloved Empress...."

         "Not officially, not yet."

         "Details, my dear, details," Hux said, sounding awfully like Vesper, but without the charm. "But the devils do dwell in the details, don't dey? _They_. Ahem. I had one question for my lady, one trifling question of etiquette hardly worth bothering you about..."

         "Then don't."

         "....but I felt it best to just lay it to rest. Oh, that rhymes." Hux hiccupped, then preened at Moira. "The Supreme Leader made me a Knight of the Legion of Crait, of course, since I fought there...."

         _Fought_ meaning he stayed safely on the shuttle until the area was secured, then stepped out briefly to rub red dust on his overcoat.

         "...but then Corporal -- _Captain_ Crimson is Knight-Commander of said Legion," Hux continued relentlessly.

         "Correct...."

         "So is there some context in which he might conceivably _outrank_ me?"

         If Hux weren't so dreadfully earnest, Rey might have laughed. Instead she dredged up details of historical dramas she'd read on long nights alone in her wrecked walker on Jakku, for which she felt a sudden pang of longing. "Perhaps in highly specialized circumstances, my dear Grand Duke. At a formal dinner for members of the Legion, for example, you would rise when he entered the room."

         "I would rise for a _stormtrooper_?" Hux looked horrified.

         "Well, why not just decline the invitation?" Rey said, more sharply than she meant. "Or invite him to something on Wannsee where he'll have to stand for you."

         "Oh that's a very good idea. Very good. Have you seen pictures of the palace on Wannsee, from back when I held the Starkiller targeting conference there? I have some somewhere...." He stuck his staff under his armpit while he ruffled through his pockets, then looked skeptically at the golden Star Destroyer. "Do you think I'm adequately distinguished from the four lesser Marshals?"

         "Sorry, what?"

         "I mean, they have batons, of course, while I have a rod, which is much longer and thicker...."

         "I'm sure," Rey said, rolling her eyes at Moira, who was struggling not to laugh, "that your rod is _very_ long and thick, and you have absolutely no cause to be insecure about it."

         "....but perhaps I could adorn myself further? Perhaps fur trimming on my cape?"

         "Fur?"

         "Yes. Fur."

         "Won't that be hot?"

         Hux waved airily. "It could be _fake_ fur." He bowed. "Have I your consent, Your Majesty?"

         "Yes," Rey said, gritting her teeth. "You have my imperious consent to adorn your ceremonial cape with imitation fur."

         "Oh, thank you, my lady. Now where are those pictures..."

         "That's quite all right, Hux, I have to run away screaming now."

         "Of course, my lady, of course." He reached out and grabbed the horrified Moira by her delicate wrist. "But I must insist you lend me your lady-in-waiting for a moment." He dropped his voice a half-octave in a way that was probably meant to be seductive. "I hear your fellow Knights of Ren are hunting happy _husbands_?"

         Rey ignored Moira's imploring eyes and abandoned her to her fate. She doubted Moira would say anything but Hux would talk enough for two.

         Rey only stopped fleeing when she saw a pair of stormtroopers in the crowd and headed for them, hoping for a fix of clean, honest adoration. She wondered why they were even present, since the stormtroopers and lower-ranking honorees had their own reception with less elegance and more alcohol. Klimenti had made her excuses an hour ago and gone to join them, and Rey wished she could have followed.

         "My good troopers," Rey said, smiling. They both bowed, and Rey suddenly realized three things:

         1) The rest of the guests were keeping their distance from the stormtroopers in an otherwise crowded room.

         2) The troopers were armed.

         3) They were guarding Leia Organa.

         "Great show," Leia rasped. "I was a _captive_ audience." She clanked her chained wrists together. "Badum-bump."

         "A rimshot?" Rey laughed weakly in spite of herself. " _Your_ act is not up to its usual standards, Your Highness."

         "Like Lieutenant Connix, I'm not at my best," Leia said. "I don't suppose you've seen any of the other prisoners?"

         "I...." Rey had to wrack her brain. "I didn't have time before we left _Finalizer_. They're all still there, I understand."

         "Except Lieutenant Connix."

         "Apparently."

         "Who does look a bit run down," Leia said. "But you are _radiant_ , Your Majesty. I see congratulations are in order."

         "Congratulations are surely due to the evening's many honorees," Rey said nervously, "not me."

         "You don't _know_ ," Leia said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I'm listening more closely to the Force than you are these days. Or maybe it's a grandmother's intuition."

         "A _grand_...?"  
         "Rey," Leia said gently, "you're pregnant."


	4. Mother of Emperors

Chapter 4: Mother of Emperors

 

 

_Rey_

            _I should tell him_ , Rey thought for the hundredth time that sleepless night. _I should wake him up and tell him right now._

            She felt Kylo Ren’s warm skin against hers, his peaceful breathing in the dark. 

            _No. I should let him sleep. I should tell him tomorrow. Maybe._

_I should tell him._

_No._

            Rey threw off the covers and sat up, naked and shivering, on the edge of the bed.

            _Rey, you’re pregnant_ , Leia had told her. Leia has sensed it. Why couldn’t Kylo? Why couldn’t she? It was her own body, her own self, but everything about her self felt unfamiliar, the lonely scavenger become the beloved Mother of Emperors.

            “Are you in there, Your Highness?” she asked her own belly, whispering ridiculously in the dark. “Will you be good?”

            She wouldn’t tell Kylo yet because she wasn’t sure how he’d react. She wasn’t sure how _she_ was reacting.

            She stood and pulled on the first dress that came to hand. She couldn't find shoes but headed out anyway. Her lightsaber flew into her hand without her thinking about it.

            She keyed the door open, took one step out, and almost tripped over a dark lump lying on the threshold.

            “Mistress?” the lump whispered.

            “Moira?” Rey whispered back as she closed the door behind her.

            “My lady.” Moira picked herself up quickly and bowed, never meeting Rey’s eyes. Her fierce red hair was smooshed flat on one side, and she was barefoot, wearing something black and baggy. Sith pajamas?

            “Moira, were you sleeping on the floor?”

            “Like a dog, my lady, guarding the threshold, as you...”

            “I didn’t literally....” Rey caught Moira looking at her appraisingly and bristled. “Eyes on the floor,” she snapped. The girl _had_ tried to kill her.

            “Sorry, mistress.”

            “I’m going out. Stay here.”

            “No,” Moira said in a very small voice. Then, hastily, apologetically: “Mistress, please. Don’t leave me alone with...” She didn’t say the name, just nodded towards the bedroom door. “Let me come with you, Mistress, escort you.”

            "What if I don't? Will you slip into the warm, empty space I left on the bed?"

            "No. I don't know. Maybe. Probably. Yes."

            “I guess you're coming, then," Rey said, thought about it, and blushed. "I mean coming with me, not with Kylo. I mean.... Get your saber...”

            Moira held it up. “I was sleeping with it, Mistress.”

            “And that's all you ever sleep with. Come with me.” She strode across the sitting room, towards the door out to the guardroom and the ship’s corridors beyond.

            Moira fell in behind her. “Mistress?”

            “Yes?”

            “Where are we going?”

            Rey really hadn’t thought that through. On Jakku, which she missed more and more, whenever she couldn’t sleep, she’d go on long walks through the desert in the dark, where she could focus on the risk of ambush or accident, instead of more intimate anxieties like why her parents never came back. ( _They were filthy junk traders who sold you off for drinking money_.) But there were no open spaces aboard _Relentless_ , no deck where someone was not awake, no hallway she could walk down without a chorus of “Hail Rey!”

            She turned to Moira. “Take me to Mercure Ren.”

 

***

 

_Mercure_

            Mercure was dreaming of Luke’s temple in flames, again. His friend Abel stared down in horror at the lightsaber gutting him.

            “I’m sorry,” Mercure said, "I'm so sorry," when in real life he’d just screamed and screamed and killed....

            The door hissed open and he was awake in an instant, saber lit. “Who...?”

            It was Moira, eyes down like a whipped puppy, and behind her, of course, Kylo’s child bride. The Mother of Emperors. What a goddamned joke.

            “Put that away, Mercure Ren,” Rey snapped , her voice imperious and icy but noticeably brittle.

            “You have the master override for all the locks on the ship, don’t you?” he asked her, powering down his saber. “And no respect for privacy.”

            “Sorry,” Rey said, human again in an instant.

            “Never say ‘sorry’ except when you're unmistakably sarcastic,” Mercure told her, putting his saber down. “People will see it as weakness.”

            “People like you?”

            “People like us.”

            He sat down on the bed, the sheets still tangled and sweat-soaked from his nightly nightmare. “How does Kylo sleep these days?”

            “Mercure!” Moira gasped, but he didn’t care. Minimizing what you cared about was how you survived.

            “Like a _baby_ ,” Rey said, as if that last word were a curse.

            “Then I guess you’re good for him.” Mercure gestured for her to sit on one of his crates of crap. “I dislike you, I doubt your competence, and I resent your suddenly becoming the most important person in Kylo’s life, but I have to give you credit for taming his nightmares.”

            “I didn’t know he had nightmares,” she said, sitting.

            "I have them too," Moira said softly. "Every night. About what I've done. We all do."

            Brilliant, beautiful, blind Moira, crushing on Kylo for years when he.... can’t think about that. Mercure forced a smile and a quip. "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space," he said, "were it not that I have bad dreams."

            "I'm so....That's too bad," Rey said. "I didn't know."

            “You could fill a holocron with what you don’t know, kid."

            Rey turned to Moira. “Is he always this... ah....”

            “Honest?” Mercure offered. “Candid? Clear and direct?”

            “Rude,” said Moira.

            “Yes,” he said. “After we... left, Kylo swore we wouldn’t be like the Sith or the Jedi, that we’d always be honest with each other.” He sighed. “He was lying, of course. Apparently I’m the only one who took him seriously.”

            Moira snuffed. “You were rude before that.”

            Rey nodded, thoughtful. “What was Ben....”

            “Uh-uh-uh. Ask him yourself or accept your ignorance.”

            They sat there in the dark for a minute. They’d not turned on the light and he’d be damned if he did it for them.

            “Speaking of ignorance,” Rey said uncertainly, “and of holocrons...”

            “We weren’t.”

            “It was a _segue_.”

            “It was a terrible segue. What do you want?”

            “You excavate Sith artifacts. Holocrons and other records. Where are they?”

            “You’re sitting on a crate of the damn things.”

            Rey jumped up. Mercure laughed. She scowled. “That’s not funny !”

            “It wasn’t a joke. All these crates in here really are full of nightmare-inducing dark side artifacts because I can’t trust anyone else to guard them. I laughed because you looked like your butt was burning. Moira, that was funny, wasn’t it? The Almighty Empress with her ass on fire?”

            “You should learn some respect,” Moira said, rolling her eyes.

            “The way you did? No thanks.” He got up with a grunt, scratching, and shuffled over to the sink to splash cold water on his face. “You clearly aren’t letting me go back to sleep, Lady Rey, so what do you want with Sith holocrons?”

            “What — what are they about?”

            “Bloody revenge. Long-forgotten grudges. Pointless feuds. Horrific dark side rituals with a key step missing so your enemies or apprentices or random people centuries later blow themselves up when they try to perform them. Millennia of narcissism and sociopathy with a few nuggets of genuine insight, some real clues about the Force, that you have to root for in the endless cesspools of self-indulgent, self-destructive shit." He spat. "That’s the Sith for you. Good riddance.”

            “Nothing about marriage counseling, I suppose,” Rey said with a small smile.

            “What.”

            “Sorry...”

            “Don’t say that, remember?”

            “Sor... Right. It was just something Leia suggested.”

            Mercure and Moira both stared at her. He was dumbstruck but Moira actually managed to speak: “ _Leia Organa_ suggested you look for _Sith holocrons_ on _marriage counseling_?”

            “She was being sarcastic, but it made me think...” The girl raised her hands helplessly. “.... obviously the Jedi didn’t get married and have children, but the Sith were creatures of passion, so I thought...”

            “Oh.” He nodded. “That’s actually a reasonable deduction, and I _have_ found a few things about that...”

            “Really?” Rey jumped up. “Really?” She was such a child. It brought back memories that weren’t worth the hurt of having.

            “Really. What specifically are you looking for? I have an index on my data pad.”

            “Well,” Rey said, smiling and blushing (Such. A. Child!). “Perhaps...”

            “You want to know if Kylo got you pregnant yet,” Moira said, miserably.

            “Y-yes.”

            “You’re pregnant,” Moira said. Rey glared at her and she wilted. “You didn’t ask! I thought you knew!”

            Rey turned on Mercure, furious. “Can you _all_ just, just see through me like that?”

            “No!” he said, backing away and immediately bumping into a crate full of cursed Sith scrolls. “It must be a girl thing!”

            “Then why can’t I...” Rey sat down heavily on his bed. “I’m so confused.”

            He reached out, thought better of it, pulled back, thought better of thinking better of it, and patted her stiffly on the shoulder. “There, there. We’ll get some coffee and some Sith holocrons and start researching Sith babies together.”

            “My baby isn’t Sith!” Rey snapped, then cringed. “I sound ridiculous.”

            “Well, look on the bright side,” he said, turning on the coffee maker (it was on top of a crate). “Now we Knights of Ren finally have proof ...”

            “Don’t say it,” Moira said.

            “.... that we’re not the only ones Kylo is constantly screwing.”

            “That’s not funny,” Moira snapped.

            “No, it's not,” Rey said and burst into helpless tears of laughter.

 

***

 

_Rey_

            Rey rubbed her aching head and closed the holocron, its delicate projections winking out. “How much time...”

            “We reach the Visshi system in three hours, my lady,” Moira said, putting down the holocron she’d been studying and standing up stiffly. “We should get back, Mistress, get you ready for the Senate, before....ah...”

            “Before he wakes up?”

            “Yes.”

            Mercure tossed his thousand-year-old holocron on the bed. (Both girls flinched). “Well, I’m happy to stay here and keep reading — I mean, I presume it’s your imperious will that I keep researching Sith babies....”

            “Not a Sith baby,” Rey muttered, feeling stupid.

            “... while you flounce about the Senate or whatever, right? I don’t have to go to this damn thing, do I?”

            Moira sighed. “You never read Kylo’s memos.”

            Mercure sniffed. “I read them _selectively_.”

            Rey looked from one of them to the other in amazement. “Kylo Ren, fallen Jedi, Master of the Knights of Ren, sends his dark side followers _memos_?”

            “Long, passive-aggressive, rambling, disorganized, yet obsessively nit-picky memos,” Mercure said.

            “Text is easier to encrypt and transmit than holographic recordings,” Moira said defensively.

            “He sometimes includes his poetry,” Mercure said with a shudder.

            “Some of it’s quite romantic!” Moira protested, blushing.

            “You mean ‘sexy,’” Mercure said. Moira turned redder.

            “Can I read some of this poetry?” Rey asked, horribly intrigued.

            “No!” they both said.

            “No, mistress,” Moira appended hastily. “In any case,” she went on, swiftly changing the subject, “we _all_ have to go to the Senate opening ceremonies. Then we’re free to go about our own business as long as we stay in the system.”

            “Oh, great, because there are so many important archeological sites in the goddamned Visshi system,” Mercure said.

            Rey laughed and got up. “What’s your real name, Mercure?”

            “Biggs Antilles.” He flinched. “I know, I know, it's funny because I'm so small. Hardy har har. But the name was real important to my dad. Some dead guy who flew with him and Skywalker."

            “I like you,” Rey said, surprising herself, but it felt true.

            “Don’t,” Mercure said. “Don’t like or trust any of us. We’re the bad guys.”

            “Skywalker was worse,” Moira hissed. “He tried to murder Kylo in his sleep.” She opened the door. “Let’s go, my lady.”

            “Wait,” Rey told her, still looking hard at Mercure Ren/Biggs Antilles. “Nobody thinks _they're_ the bad guy. I mean, who do you think the good guys are?”

            "You really want to know?" Mercure asked.

            "Yes."

            “They're the people you betrayed for dark side make-outs."

            "I did _not_ betray them," Rey snapped. "I _saved_ them."

            "Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."

            "Why? Do you know something I don't?"

            "Ignore him, my lady," Moira said, an edge of hysteria audible in her voice. "Let's _go_."

            "Wait." Rey stared at Mercure. "You _do_ know something I don't. What is it?"

            "Lady Rey," Mercure said wearily, "let's just drop..."

            "What's happening to them? _Where are they_?"

            He sighed. "They're being tortured three decks from here.”

            Rey froze. Her body felt cold and far away. The first time she tried to speak, the words withered to a helpless hissing in her throat.

            The second time, she managed: “What.”

            The third time, she said, “take me to them.”

 

***

 

_Moira_

            The mistress walked down the corridor so quickly Moira and Mercure has to hustle to keep up.

            “He told me they were still on _Finalizer_ ,” the mistress said breathlessly. “That we didn’t have time to back to check on them. I never remembered to check on them...”

            “It was probably an honest mistake, my lady,” Moira said.

            “No, it wasn’t,” Mercure said, shoving in his oar where it wasn’t wanted, just like always.

            “Shut up,” Moira told him, but he didn’t. He never did.

            “ _Finalizer_ was packed with evacuees from the _Supremacy_ ," he went on mercilessly. "They’d started shooting low-priority prisoners just so the wounded could sleep in the cells and get a little quiet while they recovered. Old Man Hoch ...”

            “Hoch _t_ ,” the mistress corrected. Even at a time like this, she had such a marvelous memory.

            “Old Ghoul Face transferred all the priority prisoners and the entire interrogation unit over here to _Relentless_ where there was plenty of room because they hadn't embarked the full stormtrooper contingent yet."

            “Stop it!” Moira snarled, or tried to snarl. It sounded too much like begging.

            “That was always the plan and Kylo knew it,” Mercure said calmly. “He lied to you.”

            “ _That’s_ a lie!” Moira cried, sounding feeble even in her own ears. She was failing, again, she always let Kylo down, the mistress saw right though her and she would be angry with Kylo and Kylo would be furious with her...

            Rey had reached the outer blast doors of the main detention block and had to stop. They caught up.

            “Mistress....” Moira begged.

            The mistress turned to her, panting slightly. “He promised me they wouldn’t be tortured.”

            _Oh, really_ , Moira thought but didn’t say.

            “You’re unbelievable,” Mercure said, because he was apparently incapable of thinking something without saying it, the little androgynous monster. “Kylo Ren, dark side adept, Master of the Knights of Ren, murderer of his own father, promised you he _wouldn’t_ torture someone?”

            “He wouldn’t torture them as long as they...cooperated with interrogation,” the mistress said in a small voice.

            “Ha! And of course you and he worked out an unambiguous and mutually agreed-on definition of ‘cooperate.’”

            “No.”

            “Well, then you’re a giant goddamn moron, aren’t you?”

            “Yes.”

            Moira wanted to kill him for the insult to the mistress, but she also wanted to kill the mistress before she could cause Kylo any more pain, and she also wanted Kylo to throw her down on the cold deck plates by the mistress’s still-warm body and do bad things to her, and she also wanted the mistress to throw her down and do bad things to her, because she was a bad, bad girl with blood on her hands who deserved nothing but punishment from the universe, so she just stood there like a stupid, stupid idiot while the blast doors groaned open.

            Blocking their way was an anxious female lieutenant in the white tunic of the Intelligence & Security Bureau, flanked by four armed stormtroopers. “I’m sorry, my lady,” she began, “but Director Hocht expressly...”

            “Holy...That’s the Empress,” one of the stormtroopers said. “Hail Rey!”

            “Hail Rey!” another shouted.

            "Hail Rey!" the third echoed, then turned the officer. “Let her in or we’ll blow your disrespectful face off.”

            “Ah, right this way, Your Majesty,” the officer said, pointed to a long corridor lined with locked doors.

            The mistress swept through, Moira and Mercure hastening after. The stormtroopers automatically started to kneel but stopped halfway down and hastily scrambled after them.

            “We’ve treated the prisoners from Crait well, as you commanded, Your Majesty,” one of the troopers said. “Hardly any of them have died.”

            “That’s wonderful,” the mistress said, bravely masking her distress.

            “Captain!” the lieutenant shouted behind them, yelling into an intercom on the security desk. “Wake up! The Empress is here!”

            “What?” came an answering shout from the intercom. “That isn’t funny.”

            “It’s not a joke, sir!”

            A cell hissed open and a stout middle-aged officer hopped out, white jacket flapping up, still pulling up his black trousers. “Oh holy hells. Hail Rey!”

            “What are you doing?” the mistress said, then shoved past the protesting officer to stare into the open cell. She recoiled.

            Moira rushed up, hand on her saber to slay whatever had offended the mistress -- but the only thing inside was the pardoned prisoner, Connix, hastily pulling on her clothes. With her shaven head and bruised body she looked ugly and pathetic.

            “I’m sorry,” Connix whispered. The nerve damage in her left hand seemed to make the buttons hard for her.

            The mistress turned on the sweating captain, irate for some inscrutable reason of her own. “She is your _prisoner_!”

            “M-my lady, the Supreme Leader set her free because _I_ had c-commended her for c-c-cooperation.”

            “Isn’t this what you want, my lady?” Moira suggested, trying to calm the mistress down. “The two sides coming together?” Mercure sniggered but Moira ignore him. “To make love instead of war?”

            “Are you that far gone?” the mistress screamed at her. “Are you — it’s not like me and Kylo, it’s not! It’s — she could not _consent_!”

            “I don’t understand,” Moira whispered, knowing she sounded weak and stupid, but she really didn’t, just when she thought she'd figured the mistress out...

            “My lady...” the captain began.

            “Shut up!” the mistress shrieked and struck him through the Force hard enough to send Moira staggering, and she wasn’t even in the line of fire. When she looked up the man was gone and there was a red smear on the far wall.

            “God damn,” Mercure muttered, swaying and daubing at a bloody nose. “Holy goddammit, there’s two of them in there.”

            “Hail Rey, Orphan Empress,” gabbled one of the stormtroopers. They’d all gone to their knees. “Intercede for us now and at the hour of our death, blessed is the fruit of thy womb....”

            “Get up,” the mistress said in a dull, dead voice. The stormtroopers scrambled to their feet. “Get all the prisoners from Crait out of their cells.”

            “Yesmylady,” the troopers mumbled as they rushed to unlock one door after another.

            “Rey, you’re not going to like this,” Mercure warned.

            Moira slapped him. “Stop making things worse!”

            "I love you," he said. She slapped him again.

            Prisoners were shuffling out of their cells now, bent over and blinking at the light. Their heads were all shaved and their eyes hollow, like Connix, who had finally dressed herself and come up behind the mistress.

            “My lady, lady Rey...” Connix sputtered. “I’m sorry, so so sorry, I...”

            “You are in command now. _Captain_ Connix,” the mistress said in her cold, imperious tone, but this time it wasn’t an act. “Tell me what I’m seeing.”

            “Yes, my lady, thank you, my lady.” Connix limped towards the prisoners and the mistress followed. “As you can see, my lady, no missing or broken limbs, no scars, very little irreversible damage, we’ve been well — _they’ve_ been well treated.”

            “ _You’ve_ been well treated, you traitor whore,” rasped one of the male prisoners, a brutish man with one eye swollen shut.

            The mistress glared at him. “Don’t speak to her like that. She had no choice."

            “Oh crap,” Mercure said.

            The male prisoner bit his lip and said nothing. But the tall, scrawny female next to him just had to open her big mouth with a big ugly hole in front where some teeth had been knocked out. “Connix _went down_ on her knees,” she spat, “and begged.”

            “They could fix my hand, Commander D'Acy,” Connix whimpered. “He said they...”

            “Shut up,” the woman said. “You sold them the codes to save your worthless neck.”

            “Do. Not. Speak. To. Her. Like. That.” The mistress took a deep shuddering breath with every word.

            “Of course, my lady,” the female said. “You traitor whores have to stick together.”

            Dead silence.

            “Ohhhh craaaap,” Mercure whispered.

            “I am strong and merciful,” the mistress said, so brave and sad and beautiful despite shaking with anger that Moira wanted to hug her, to worship her, to cry, to kill everyone. “You have suffered terribly and don’t understand what you are saying.”

            “I understand,” the female seethed as the other prisoners stepped away from her. “I understand you want to snap my neck, just like granddaddy Vader.”

            “You don’t understand,” the mistress whispered. “It’s not like that. I _saved_ you. I saved you _all._ ”

            “Do it,” the female hissed. “Snap my neck, you filthy, murdering, treacherous, Sith wh...”

            The female’s neck snapped. She fell to the deck like a sack of garbage.

            “I. Am. _Not_. SITH.” The mistress turned her back on the prisoners and walked out. “Captain Connix!” she called out without looking. “Get them back in their cells!”

            “Yes, my lady, I’m so sorry...”

            Moira uprooted herself from the spot and ran after the mistress. “You mustn’t be angry with Kylo, my lady, he did nothing wrong.”

            Rey turned on her and _screamed_. No words, just rage and misery and the Force, but that was enough to knock Moira down. She turned and stormed away.

            “Don’t leave me,” Moira whimpered pathetically, wiping blood from her ears as she crawled-lunged-scrambled after the mistress. Mercure tried to take her arm and help her but she shoved him away. "Don’t leave me, my lady, please....”

            “Are you that broken?” the mistress said, her voice sounded like she might break herself. She punched the control to reopen the blast door. “Are you all so warped inside that... that....”

            “Ah,” said Director Hocht, revealed by the opening of the blast door. He bowed stiffly, rather like someone baring his neck to the axe. “Your Majesty, please allow me to explain.”

 

***

 

_Hocht_

            “...allow me to explain,” he said, thinking: _So this is how I die_.

            “Explain,” the girl snapped, bright eyes boring through him mercilessly.

            “Lord Kylo had nothing to do with this, my lady,” Hocht said, bowing and staying down, neck bared, because he didn’t dare meet her eyes. “He assumed your orders would be carried out and left the details to me. If you are dissatisfied, I take full responsibility.”

            He could feel her glare on the exposed back of his neck.

            “You know, Hocht,” Lady Rey said coldly, “when you are speaking to one of the most powerful Force-sensitives in the galaxy, it is not a good time to lie.”

            _Here it comes_ , he thought. _Well, it’s been a long hard life._

            It didn’t come.

            “Stand up straight and tell me the truth,” Rey said.

            That _might_ be worth trying, for a change. “The Supreme Leader ordered the condition and location of the prisoners be concealed from you, my lady.”

            “I see.”

            “I am sure he meant only to avoid causing you distress.”

            "Lying."

            "My apologies, my lady. It's an old habit." It was strangely relaxing to know he could conceal nothing. As if he'd been walking with weights on all his life and Rey had cut them off.

            Rey swept past him, her two Knights of Ren in tow, looking young and miserable and generally unimpressive without their masks to hide behind. "Walk with me, Hocht."

            "Yes, my lady." His long legs let him catch up but his old joints groaned. "I am sure the Supreme Leader wished to avoid causing _both_ of you distress. I believe he feels you are still too soft to do all that must be done."

            "And you feel _he_ is too volatile and immature to do it," she said without looking at him.

            "I have no secrets from you, my lady," he said, feeling an uncanny prickling sensation somewhere inside his skull.

            "Yet I see in your mind no intention to betray him," Rey said.

            "I have no intention to betray _you_ , my lady."

            "Why not? It's what you do."

            "Because Kassandra Klimenti, naïve as she is in many ways, is absolutely correct. _You_ are the secret weapon the cause of order has been missing all this time. I have always endeavored to serve whoever had the greatest chance of restoring justice and order to the galaxy. Today, that would be you."

            They walked on in silence for a moment, the girl lost in thought and sorrow. Then: "Why do you do what you do, Hocht?"

            "My lady?"

            "You are a torturer, Hocht. A torturer and a spy for a brutal regime. Two brutal regimes, judging by your age."

            "Four regimes, my lady."

            "Explain."

            "I worked in Senate Security in the last days of the Republic. Young and idealistic. A Senator's aide.... did something unpleasant to a young boy, but we couldn't touch him. Politics."

            "That kind of thing still happens, Hocht, on this very ship."

            "But I assure you that now, when I find out about them, I _can_ touch them."

            Rey nodded. "Does that console you?"

            He thought about it. "No. Not really."

            "And what was the fourth regime you served, Hocht?"

            "The New Republic."

            The girl stopped and looked at him. "I don't understand."

            "I was not initially among those who followed Admiral Sloane into the Unknown Regions, my lady. At the time, I felt continued conflict was....It was a moment of weakness, perhaps. In any case, I traded information for amnesty and a role in New Republic Intelligence."

            "They _hired_ you?" Her revulsion was obvious.

            "They used me but never truly trusted me, if that consoles you. And I abandoned them once they proved incapable of restoring order."

            "By torturing people?"

            "If necessary. What kind of compassion spares the guilty to wreak further havoc on the innocent?"

            "What about sparing the _innocent_?"

            "If torturing one innocent person to death gives me the information necessary to save two others, the universe comes out ahead."

            "I don't agree," she said, turning away and walking on, but he could tell by the quaver in her voice that he was reaching her.

            "My lady," he said, "before you return to Kylo Ren, there is something I think you would like to see."

 

***

 

            Hocht watched Lady Rey watch the stormtroopers file into the dark hangar bay below them. Some of them carried torches because the lights were out in this part of the ship.

            "I've seen First Order military reviews before, Hocht," she said warily. At her tone, Moira Ren -- hovering in the shadows -- visibly tensed. (Mercure Ren had wisely scarpered at some point).

            "Keep watching, my lady," Hocht told her. They were standing in the control room overlooking the hangar. It was new and not yet used, with dust covers still shrinkwrapped over all the consoles.

            "That's General Klimenti coming in now, isn't it?" the girl asked.

            Hocht glanced away from her long enough to see that she was right. Klimenti was even wearing her emerald medal and carrying her ivory marshal's baton, though the finery looks out of place on her.

            Klimenti strode up to the makeshift stage in front of the assembly. There were a few black-uniformed enlisted personnel around the edges of the gathering, but the vast majority were stormtroopers.

            "Hail Kylo Ren!" Klimenti shouted.

            "HAIL LADY REY!"

            Rey turned to go. "I've seen enough of _that_ already."

            "Wait," Hocht said. She looked down, startled, and he realized he'd seized her wrist. He released it hastily, but she didn't leave.

            "All glory, laud, and honor to our Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, and to the Mother of Emperors, Lady Rey," Klimenti intoned. "May they see your face and speak your name." She raised her baton as if in blessing. "Remove your helmets."

            Rey give out a little gasp as, with a mighty chorus of clickings and clackings, every trooper in the place removed his or her helmet and placed it at their feet.

            "Our special speaker for this assembly," Klimenti said when they were done, "is Master Sergeant Breaker, BR-2011, recipient of the Obsidian Fist of Vader. Hail Breaker!"

            "HAIL BREAKER!"

            "Hail Vader!" said the scarred and weather-beaten sergeant. Hocht could tell Rey recognized him from his medal ceremony just the night before.

            "HAIL VADER!"

            "Brothers and sisters," Breaker said, "I stand before you as living proof that the love of Lady Rey is real, that the rule of Kylo Ren is just, that there is hope for all of us orphan soldiers in our Orphan Empress."

            "HAIL LADY REY!" This time there was an audible undercurrent of emotion, a near-hysterical craving to be seen and loved. Hocht had never associated such wild passions with good order before, but to see it _harnessed_ in this way.....

            He realized Lady Rey was crying.

            "Kylo Ren is our father! Lady Rey is our mother!" Breaker shouted. "sServe them with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and they will lift you up from nothing as they have lifted me!"

            "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY!"

            "....but not to me," she whispered. She wiped her eyes and turned to Moira Ren. "Take me back to Kylo. I've seen enough."

            _I rather think you have_ , he thought. He felt a strange feeling in his chest and wondered if he were having a heart attack before he recognized what it was:

            He had hope.

 

***

 

_Rey_

            Rey walked slowly down the corridor back to her quarters, Moira Ren following silent as a shadow. Stormtroopers with red dust on their armor snapped to attention with heartfelt cries of "Hail Rey!" As weary as she was, Rey made sure to speak to all of them as she passed: "Bless you, stormtrooper.... May the Force be with you.... Bless you.... Hail Kylo Ren.... Bless you...."

            "My lady," Crimson said, bowing to her so his medal of knighthood clacked against his breastplate, "we are glad you have returned. The Supreme Leader has not emerged, but we have heard noises from his quarters that suggest, ah, he is _troubled_."

            That seemed in character. One more desperately needy person to deal with. "Thank you, Sir Crimson," she said. "As always, you serve us well. I will ease his mind."

            "As only you can, my lady," Crimson said, opening the door for her.

            The sitting room had been hacked to pieces with a lightsaber. Smoldering pieces of the loveseat and antique chairs lay everywhere. And in the middle of the wreckage, curled up in a burned patch on the carpet, lay the Supreme Leader himself in nothing but a pair of shorts -- black, of course -- with his chest glistening with sweat and his face with tears.

            "Rey?" he said, voice hoarse from screaming.

            "Will you be all right, my lady?" Crimson murmured.

            "Yes, thank you, Crimson," she said, steeling herself. "Leave us."

            "As you command." He withdrew and closed the door.

            "Rey!" Kylo scrambled to his feet and crushed her in his arms. "You _left_ and I couldn't _find_ you...."

            "I was just -- around the ship," she said, thinking better of honesty.

            "I couldn't find you," he repeated, holding her too tight and burying his face in her hair. "I couldn't feel you in the Force. As if something had broken our bond..."

            "I was just preoccupied, my love." She kissed his head. "Not so tight, Kylo, you're hurting me."

            "Where did you go?" he asked, not loosening his grip. "What could take your mind off _me_?"

            "Let me _breathe_ and I'll tell you."

            He let her go.

            "I went to see the prisoners, Kylo," she said softly.

            He seemed baffled. "Why....?"

            "The prisoners from _Crait_."

            "Oh...." He forced a joyless smile. "Really? I thought they were all still back on _Finalizer_?"

            "Mercure Ren said that was never the plan."

            His fist rushed past her head and slammed into the wall. " _Damn_ him."

            "Kylo..."

            But Kylo was pacing the room like a caged beast, ignoring her as his lightsaber leapt to his hand. "Miserable little runt can't keep his _mouth_ shut," he snarled. "He'll ruin _everything_ , he'll wreck the one good thing that's ever _happened_ to me...."

            "Our good thing is not ruined, Kylo," Rey said. "But we have to talk."

            "Ugh." He turned on her. "About _what_?"

            "You lied to me."

            "And you didn't trust me!"

            "Well, you _lied_!"

            "That's not the point!"

            "It's _not_?"

            "You'd never have found out I was lying if you'd trusted me!"

            "And this is logic _?_ "

            His lightsaber blazed to life and gouged a glowing scar in the wall. "You _have_ to trust me, Rey! You're the only person in the galaxy who's _on my side_!"

            "That's not true...."

            "It _is_!" he raged, cutting another hole in the wall. "They _love_ you, Rey, all of them love _you_ , but they're just _afraid_ of me, because I'm a _monster_!"

            "That's not true," she lied, resolving not to tell him about the stormtroopers' new religion.

            "Even you, right now, you're _scared_ of me!"

            "Kylo, you're scaring me right now...."

            "Because I _am_ a monster," Kylo sobbed, falling to his knees as his lightsaber went out. "And everyone I love gets scared and _leaves_ or _sends me away_ or tries to _kill me_ in my _sleep_ so I can't _sleep_ except when I'm in your arms...."

            "I'm not going to do any of those things," Rey said as calmly as she could, still afraid to get within arm's reach. "I'm not your father, or your mother, or your uncle."

            "Prove it," he whispered desperately. "Show me that you're mine _forever_. Mine and _mine_ and _mine alone_."

            She swallowed and came closer. "Kylo," she said, "I'm pregnant."

            For a long moment he just stared at her blankly, as if stunned.

            "Oh," he said at last. "Oh. Oh....."

            "Yes, my love. Our children. Our future. Yours and mine."

            "My child," he whispered, touching her stomach with one trembling hand as if it were infinitely fragile. " _My child_." He threw his arms around her, making a strange sound between sobbing and hysterical laughter. "MY CHILD!"

            "Children," she said, trying to loosen his grip. "Mercure said it's twins..."

            " _Twins_?" Kylo said, going rigid. "Like...." His arms were a cage of iron.

            "Kylo, that's too tight, you're hurting me...."

            He let go as if she were on fire. "I'm sorry!" He scrambled to his feet. "I'd never hurt the -- I'm just -- this is so wonderful, Rey, this changes _everything_ , our chance to truly escape the past...."

            "Kylo," she said cautiously, "do you mean it? That this changes everything?"

            "Yes! Yes!" He made to crush her in his arms again but stopped. "Everything."

            "Then there's something I want you to do for me, then. For our children."

            "Anything!"

            "I want you to talk to your mother."


	5. With Thunderous Applause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A warning: This gets dark. As dark as we get. They say it's always darkest before the dawn....

_Leia_

            Leia Organa was awake.

            That pretty much sucked.

            Well, she thought without opening her eyes, there was the slight chance that everything in the last 20 years or so had been a dream, and if she reached out with her left arm, she’d feel Han in the bed beside her, hogging most of the mattress. Maybe Ben was already up and reading moodily in a dark corner, or Luke was about to knock on their front door.

            She’d even welcome Amilyn Holdo dropping off yet another data pad full of overclassified bureaucratic twaddle from some Senate subcommittee. Or maybe Gial Ackbar coming to complain about fleet funding and eat algae straight out of the fish tank when he thought she wasn’t looking, even though she had made him the fancy gluten-free organic kind his doctor insisted a Mon Calamari his age had to eat. One time Ben had caught him and been furious.

            She reached out with her left arm. There was nothing there.

            “Ah, well,” she said to herself and, she assumed, to the constantly watching First Order. “It was worth a shot.”

            Her eyes flickered gummily open. There was the life-size portrait of Grand Moff Tarkin that the stormtroopers has thoughtfully positioned beside her bed. She quickly looked the other way only get an eye-full of Orson Krennic, contemplating a model of the Death Star with far more serenity in paint than he’d ever shown in real life.

            Evil is fundamentally very petty.

            “I’m getting up now,” she said, more loudly, to the bust of Palpatine she liked to pretend had the cameras in it. (Of course it didn’t. The cameras were everywhere). She groaned and grunted and huffed and creaked and popped -- oh God, what popped _this_ time? -- and finally got into a sitting position.

            “Getting old sucks,” she told the very bored junior officer she imagined got stuck with watching her sleeping and waking and sitting on the can. “I don’t suppose you guys could get me some arthritis pills? I left mine on the _Raddus_ , where their mass hopefully impacted Snoke’s deformed forehead at approximately the speed of light.”

            She stood up. _Whyyyy_? her knees screamed at her, or at least she imagined them screaming so she didn’t scream herself. _Why would you stand up?_

            “I don’t know,” she told them, probably baffling that poor First Order bastard. “What did I get up for?”

            Because she’d felt a disturbance in the Force, she realized. A presence she hadn’t sensed in years, not since....

            Rey came in.

            ...not since yesterday, fine, she was obviously going senile.

            “What do you want?” Leia signed, shuffling towards a chair, acutely aware her hair was a mess and she was wearing First Order-issue baggy black pajamas. Rey, of course, was radiant and queenly in a long silvery gown. That someone so evil could be so beautiful seemed unfair, but then a lot of things seemed unfair lately.

            "Leia," the girl said uncertainly. "We...."

            Ben came in.

            _Oh God_.

            Just when she thought there weren't any pieces of her heart still big enough to break.

            Her boy was all grown up, a leader of men, strong and handsome with that same sensitive, expressive face, only he was also on the _wrong side_ and _murderously insane_.

            But still her boy.

            "Ben," she managed to rasp. There was a lot of emotion compressed into that syllable she wasn't sure she could unpack.

            Ben flinched. His eyes darted around the room as if looking for an escape. "Hello, Mother," he said, staring past her at Tarkin. "Rey convinced me I should come and see you."

            "It's been a while," she said, managing not to fall apart laughing, crying, or screaming, all of which were awfully tempting alternatives.

            "Yes," he said, looking at the bust of Palpatine. "Yes, it has."

            "I'm glad you came," she said.

            He looked her in the eyes at that. "Are you?" There was genuine interest in his tone.

            "Actually I have no idea," she said.

            "That's fair," he said, looking at Krennic. "You're wearing general issue First Order pajamas," he said without looking at her. "Not your style."

            "My nice Argenti ones got blown up with the ship," she said. "I like your cape." She pointed one knobby finger -- so old! When did she get so old? -- at the red lining. "Touch of color. Understated. Haus Karlof, I presume?"

            "Actually," he said, examining the fabric, "I think it's fake..."

            "Have you checked the stitching? You can always....

            "...tell by the stitching," he finished. They exchanged a quick smile before they remembered where and who they were.

            "But it's a very _good_ fake," he said. "The cape was Rey's idea, of course." He nodded at the girl, who was standing rigidly in a corner with an attempt at a smile.

            "I'm not surprised. And the mask -- I like you better without the mask."

            "Finally something you and Snoke agree on," he said with a strange catch in his voice. "I'd tell him but, of course, you know, he's dead."

            Leia sat down heavily. "I know. Silver linings. Check the stitching." She tried and failed to catch his eye. "Do we have your Aunt Amilyn to thank for that? Or you?"

            "Snoke was killed by whatever suicidal lunatic piloted that rebel cruiser, obviously," Rey said a little sharply, glancing up at the ceiling. (Was that where the bugs were?).

            "Well, that lunatic was Amilyn Holdo," Leia said. "You remember, Ben, she gave you that Gatalentan clownfish for your aquarium, remember?"

            "Admiral Ackbar ate it," Ben snapped, fiddling with a bronze Star Destroyer.

            "It was an _accident_ and he said he was _sorry_ ," Leia said. "And he's dead."

            "I'm glad. He would always reach his big fat flappy fish hands right in the tank and scoop out the algae," Ben said with surprising bitterness. "I always had to fix it when he left. I hated it."

            She chuckled hoarsely. "Is that why you turned to the dark side?"

            "No, I turned because you and Dad and Uncle Luke all thought I was a monster and turned on _me_ first. Any more idiotic questions?"

            _Ouch_ , she thought. What she said was, "You're not a monster, Ben."

            "Oh, mother, but I am. _I really am_."

            There was a long and awkward silence, broken only by the delicate clinking sounds of Ben unscrewing the bronze Star Destroyer from its base and prying its top and bottom halves apart. "This is a _clock_ , you know," he said petulantly to no one in particular. "The bow's supposed to point to the time. I don't know why it isn't working."

            "Oh," she said.

            Another long silence while Ben tinkered obsessively to avoid engaging emotionally. God, he had done that as a child....

            "Kylo and I are heading down to the Senate," Rey said brightly.

            "Your pet Senate," she muttered.

            "No it's not," Rey snapped, her brittle composure fracturing at once. "It will have a real say in affairs of the Empire..."

            "Of the _Empire_ ," Leia said, rolling her eyes.

            "Just read Senator Tarkin's bill!"

            "Oh, Senator _Tarkin_ , what a lovely name."

            Rey made a noise something like "hnnnng!" and threw up her hands. "I'm sorry, beloved, maybe this was a mistake."

            "Mother, I want you to endorse the bill," Ben said, still fiddling with the clock.

            " _What_?"

            "It's the best deal your side is going to get," he said, uncannily calm. "If _you_ , of all people, make a public statement to that effect, it would convince countless worlds to accept the peace. Bring some of your diehard friends in out of the cold." He turned to her, holding the Star Destroyer, back on its stand: It ticked. "See? I fixed it. You could save millions of lives, Mother. Maybe billions."

            "No."

            He put the Star Destroyer clock down. "That's awfully cold-blooded of you, Leia Organa."

            "If you're asking me for help, it must mean you're afraid that you could lose."

            "Or maybe I'm just sick of killing people?"

            "Doubtful."

            "You're probably right." Ben took Rey's hand. "We'd better be going."

            "Yes, Kylo. I'm sorry, Kylo."

            "She's not your fault." Kylo -- _Ben_ led Rey to the door. "One more thing, Mother?"

            "Yes, Ben?"  
            "If you won't do this for me -- do it for your grandchildren."

            "That's.... _children_?"

            "It's twins," Rey said.

            "Oh."

            "You didn't _feel_ that?" Rey said. "Maybe you're not as attuned to the Force as you thought. Mercure Ren sensed it instantly."

            Mercure? It took her a second to recall the intelligence she'd gotten: Mercure was Wedge's kid. So many lost children....

            "Twins," Ben said. "History repeats. But make no mistake: This time no one will steal them away."

            "And that's a tragedy," Leia said, wringing one last drop of resolve from somewhere deep inside. "For the galaxy and for my grandchildren. But if I can't rescue them from you, I can at least refuse to help you imprison everyone else."

            "You've chosen your road," Ben spat, with a petulant tone she recognized from his childhood. "And your grandchildren will never even know you're alive."

            They left.

 

***

 

_Rey_

            "I'm sorry," Rey said, squeezing Kylo's hand and whispering so Moira Ren and the attendant stormtroopers wouldn’t hear. "That was awful. _She_ was awful."

            "Honestly, I expected worse," Kylo said at normal volume, with that brittle flippancy she was learning to recognize as a thin layer of ice concealing the desire to scream. "Anyway, I have something to cheer you up."

            "What?" she asked, but then the turbolift doors opened to reveal Hux.

            "Supreme Leader! My Lady!" He bowed so low he had to lean on his new staff of office to stay balanced. His new medals jingled. His new cape, Rey noted, was trimmed with fake fur. "Your marshals await."

            The other four were there with their new marshal's batons: Vesper and Hocht with their heads together surrounded by aides, Klimenti tapping her baton against her leg as she took reports from lesser generals and two stormtroopers, Silva.... where _was_ Silva?

            Ah, on his hands and knees checking out a truly beautiful starfighter, black and sleek, but by its wing panels clearly some variant of TIE. One of Silva's anxious aides had his baton while the other was trying to cajole him into standing up.

            Watching Silva with aloof amusement were Mercure Ren, Sobek, and Kindjal, all in black but unmasked. They leaned or sat on crates with the exaggerated casualness of kids trying to convey how much cooler they were than you. They didn't come over to talk, but Vesper did.

            "My lady, Supreme Leader," Vesper said, bowing and flourishing his baton. "I understand the Queen-Mother was uncooperative?"

            How did... Oh, right, _Hocht,_ who was rolling his eyes at Vesper behind his back. Rey was still getting used to constant surveillance. Hopefully Hocht hadn't bugged their bedroom.

            "Not unexpected," Kylo said as he headed towards the beautiful fighter. "She'd sacrifice millions rather than admit she's lost."

            "If only," Hux said, "we had _some means_ to threaten her favorite planet..."

            "Tarkin tried that already, m'boy," Vesper said. "Didn't work."

            "Tarkin was a master of _attrition_ warfare," Hocht said. He had _his_ marshal's baton tucked awkwardly under one arm along with a data pad. "But his formative experiences fighting droids did not give him an appreciation of the _psychological_ aspects of conflict."

            "How does that apply here?" Rey asked, stopping in front of Hocht. Kylo kept walking for a moment but then grudgingly halted when he realized she wasn't following.

            "It's all too easy to rationalize the deaths of millions," Hocht said. "The human mind can't comprehend such numbers. But to confront the death of just one person, when you see their face and know their name.... That's hard."

            "Rey..." Kylo said impatiently.

            "Wait, love," she said. "What are you suggesting, Hocht?"

            "Three million deaths is a statistic, but three is a tragedy." He made a rasping noise she realized was meant to be a chuckle. "My only request, my lady, is if you execute any more prisoners, please consult with me beforehand. We had Commander D'Acy on a sleep deprivation program with an 80 percent chance of extracting valuable intelligence in 24 hours."

            "The one I... she was named D'Acy?" Rey remembered the _snap_ of the woman's neck.

            "Hold the comlink," Vesper said, "Lady Rey executed a prisoner?"

            "I...." Rey said lamely.

            "The rebel scum called her unspeakable slurs," Moira Ren hissed over Rey's shoulder. Rey jumped -- it was getting too easy to forget that she was _there_.

            "Good for you," Vesper told Rey. "Wasn't sure you had in it you, to be honest, if you'll forgive my saying, so, my lady. But you can't let them give you any lip."

            "You can't let you bait you into killing them before they crack under interrogation, either," Hocht said, rolling his eyes again.

            "Oh, pish-tosh," Vesper said. "Enforcing respect comes first." He ambled off, chuckling and fussing with his mustache, towards Marshal Klimenti: "Kassandra, m'dear, you'll never guess what our little Rey did..."

            "I'm not happy I did it," Rey whispered to Hocht. "I lost control."

            "Everyone does at first, my lady, once or twice," Hocht said, "but you're learning fast."

            That wasn't quite what Rey had meant, but before she could sort through her chaotic thoughts, Kylo swept in and yanked her away.

            "You've talked to those old men enough," he grumbled. "I want to show you something." He pulled her towards the starfighter.

            "Oh, sorry, ow," she said, trying to match his stride to relieve the stress on her shoulder. "Is that your personal fighter? It's beautiful."

            "Not exactly." Kylo smiled and pointed to another _identical_ fighter on the far side of the hangar bay. " _That_ one is mine."

            Rey looked at the fighter, looked at the other fighter, looked at the first fighter, looked at Kylo's big, boyish grin. " _This_ one is _mine_?"

            "Yes. It's the second prototype. Sienar-Jaemus had it doing tedious flight envelope tests...."

            "Oh, Kylo!" She hugged him and covered his face with kisses. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever owned!"

            "Well, that's fitting," he said, kissing her back. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever owned."

            "Although I've never understood," she mused, running her hands over the wings, "why TIE fighters devote so much space to solar collectors...."

            Silva popped up from underneath the fighter, irate. "Are people _still_ saying they're solar panels? That's ridiculous. Of course they're not solar panels."

            "Silva..." Kylo growled.

            "They're not?" Rey asked.

            "Well, I mean, they can collect solar energy sometimes to top up the battery, fine, so obviously they _are_ solar panels," Silva said in a rush, "but that's not their _primary_ function, they're _radiators_ to dissipate excess heat. Not necessary in atmosphere where you can use air-cooling, but in a vacuum, you heat up fast..."

            "And a ship this small doesn't have room for heat sinks!" Rey said.

            "Not proper ones, no," Silva said. "The really brilliant bit is the microstructure -- where's my magnifying scope...."

            "Rey," Kylo said, tugging her arm again, "would you like to fly it?"

            She spun round so fast she smacked Silva with the train of her dress. "Right now?"

            "Yes," Kylo said, caressing her cheek. "Right down to the Senate. I'm tired of taking shuttles."

            "Oh, yes, yes," Rey said.

            "But there's no room for _me_ ," Moira whimpered.

            "Hitch a ride with the marshals," Rey said, clambering up the side of the fighter towards the cockpit hatch.

            "Rey," Kylo laughed, "there's a _ladder_ right...."

            "I got it," she said and tumbled into the cockpit, her fall cushioned by layers of petticoats. "Oof."

            Kylo was leaning against the front windshield, smirking, but over his shoulder she could see Mercure Rey gently leading Moira towards a black shuttle. No boring shuttle for Rey, though. She wriggled into the seat, struggling with her bulky formal garments, while Kylo watched and laughed. "It's not funny, this obviously wasn't built to be flown wearing a dress."

            "I guess," he said in a low purr, "you'll have to take it off."

            Rey turned red. "Off....?"

            "No one can see you from the ground, my dear." His smirk and stare were a clear challenge.

            "Fine," she said, unbuttoning the skirt. "But I'm putting it back on before I get _out_."

            "Awww, too bad," he said, looking her over appreciatively.

            "Too bad for you," she said, finding the CANOPY OPACITY switch and dialing it to ONE WAY.

            "Hey!" Kylo said, pressing his face against the windshield. "I can't see you anymore."

            "I can see you," she said. "Did I mention I'm wearing thigh-highs under this?"

            "Now that's just _mean_."

 

***

 

_P.D. Holdo_

            “P.D. Holdo, Senator for Gatalenta?”

            “Yep," P.D. said. He handed over his secure data card before going back to scratching his beard.

            The Visshian security officer slotted P.D.’s credentials into his desk and frowned.

            “Any problem, officer?”

            “Just taking a while to — there we go. Sorry, Senator. They’ve got this system checking both First Order and New Republic watchlists, which use incompatible data formats, so it’s running slow.”

            “No worries.” P.D. took his credentials back. “Out of curiosity, what would happen if I _had_ triggered a watchlist?”

            “Depends,” the officer said, watching a 3D printer chug away on his desk. “Probably nothing since we’re letting — good, it printed right, you need to wear this pass at all times — we’re letting known F.O. collaborators and Resistance fighters in. Can't have a peace conference without both sides."

            “Peace conference," P.D. said. "Right." He snapped the newly printed tag around his wrist and walked past the security desk into the great hall.

            “Sit anywhere that’s not taken, sir,” said the Visshian guard who checked his tag.

            The great hall had been built for concerts and opera. Light poured through high windows onto the thousands of seats that formed a half-circle facing the stage -- where two thrones were already set up. The huge screen behind them was blank.

            The central wedge of seating, a bit over a third, was taken up by a solid block of First Order puppets in somber colors with red-and-black armbands: the old circle-in-hexagon of the Order with the new “V for Vader” and “R.R.R.” inscribed.

            By coming early and sitting en masse in the middle, P.D. realized, they were forcing the more colorfully dressed neutral and pro-Republic senators to split into two groups. And if everyone else’s personal comlinks were being jammed “for security reasons” like P.D.’s was, it was going to be damned difficult to coordinate the opposition without being physically together.

            Simple but effective. He'd never expected the First Order to play fair, but it was worrying to see them cheating _subtly_.

            Well, subtly compared to blowing up most of the actual legitimate Senators along with the rest of the Hosnian system, leaving their deputies and emergency appointees like P.D. to fill the void.

            Which side would he sit on? He scratched his beard ( _that_ was a mistake) as he scanned the throng for signs of feistiness. He decided to head towards a pair of humans — a woman and a man — talking to a Wookiee and a three-eyed, goat-faced Gran holding up a data pad.

            “Have you actually read this thing?” the Gran bleated. “It's a bad joke.”

            “What, Senator Tarkin’s peace plan?” the male human said.

            The Wookie made a horrible gargling noise.

            “You said it, Lrrrshrrr,” said the other human, the woman. “More like a _surrender_ plan.”

            “No, that's bad enough, but this one is new this morning,” the Gran said. “Look: ‘Frequently Asked Questions About The Peace & Reconciliation Act.’"

            "They actually called it a FAQ?" the woman snickered.

            "Yes," said the Gran. "As if they’re selling reconditioned speeder parts...."

            “So what’s it actually say?” P.D. broke in. “I just got here. P.D. Holdo of Gatalenta.”

            “Poko Kandak, deputy -- sorry, _senator_ for New Malastare,” the Gran said, shaking hands. “Listen, here’s a really good one.” He read from his data pad with an exaggerated, high-pitched earnestness: “ **Question** : Why does Lord Kylo Ren need the Senate’s endorsement as Emperor, since he is already Supreme Leader and Heir of Vader?"

            Kandak dropped his voice an octave to a condescending rumble: " **Answer** : Lord Kylo Ren is Supreme Leader of the First Order, but the First Order is just that, a military order dedicated to restoring legitimate government in the galaxy — it has never claimed to _be_ that government...’”

            “Like hell they haven’t,” P.D. said.

            “But wait, there more!" Kandak had said that in a chirpy sales-pitch voice but shifted back to his authoritarian baritone: "‘Kylo Ren is also the Heir of Darth Vader, his grandfather, through his mother, Leia Organa-Skywalker, who has never claimed the throne and whose complicity in the Resistance disqualifies her for any position of public trust.’”

            “What."

            “Oh, it gets better! Ahem: ‘Since Lord Vader was the sole apprentice to Emperor Sheev Palpatine, whom he outlived (albeit briefly), and Palpatine had no children, it of course follows that the Imperial throne passed from Palpatine to Vader, and hence — bypassing Vader’s traitorous children — to Kylo Ren. However, given the tragic disorder and division in our galaxy today, the Senate should formally acclaim him as Emperor, as they acclaimed Palpatine, to remove all doubt.’”

            “Note ‘acclaim,’ not ‘proclaim,’” the woman said. “Nice little escape clause. If they lose the vote here, they just claim Kylo was Emperor all along, the Senate just forgot to say so."

            “They can say he’s the freaking Space Pope for all I care,” the man said. “What matters is whether our planets get occupied by stormtroopers or not.”

            “They don’t have enough stormtroopers to conquer everybody,” P.D. said.

            “Cold comfort for the sizable subset of everybody they _can_ conquer,” the man said. “And look at the Tarkin bill, or even the stupid FAQ.” He started reading off his data pad. “‘All systems not already under military jurisdiction’ — meaning not already occupied by the First Order, right? — ‘will retain their current governments, laws, and defensive forces.’ Or this: ‘Taxes on systems will only be levied by majority vote of the Senate.’ Or...”

            “Ahem,” said Kandak, tapping _his_ pad. “‘Imperial vessels, vehicles, and personnel may enter any system and conduct operations therein as required for galactic security.’”

            “Yeah, but they ‘will compensate system authorities for supplies, berthing, quartering, and damages at prevailing market rates or at rates prescribed by a majority of the Senate.’”

            The Wookie growled.

            “Right,” said Kandak, “that's a huge comfort, the stormtroopers may have kicked in my door and dragged off my grandma, but at least they’ll pay for a new one.”

            “Kandak, I’m not saying it’s a good deal,” the man said. “I’m saying that, if this really is the deal, it’s the _best_ deal we’re going to get.”

            There was a moment of grim silence.

            “You can't really think the First Order’s going to keep their word?” P.D. said.

            “I don’t know.” The man shrugged. “Before, I’d have said, of course not, but now with Kylo Ren’s new Empress — this has to be her doing.”

            “So can we trust _her_?" the woman asked. "And can we trust them to _listen_ to her?"

            The man shrugged. "I honestly don't know."

            "I do," P.D. said grimly. "I...."

            The Wookie made a -- a growling-trilling-whiffling noise, maybe? -- and pointed as the big screen flickered to life. The whole assembly fell quiet as the image of some kind of Super Star Destroyer appeared: angular and sleek and lethal, with outsized engines sticking out the stern and what appeared to be an axial superlaser under the bow.

            "A little subtle intimidation," P.D. muttered.

            " **Answer** ," Kandak read aloud. "'As Supreme Leader of the First Order, Kylo Ren must of course be in constant communication with his far-flung forces at all times. The _Relentless_ -class battlecruiser (RL-CC) is simply the smallest vessel in the First Order Navy (FON) possessing the requisite Command, Control, & Communications (C3) facilities.'"

            "R.L.C.C. F.O.N. C.3.?" the woman said. "B.S."

            Seek black shapes flew out of the _Relentless_ 's hangar bay: two _Upsilon_ command shuttles and a pair of vicious-looking fighters P.D. didn't recognize at first. Then someone turned the audio cuing system on, and he could hear the distinctive whining shriek of twin ion engines. Advanced TIEs. Probably the Vendetta prototype he'd read about in intelligence briefs.

            "HAIL KYLO REN! HAIL LADY REY! HAIL VADER!" the wedge of pro-First Order senators roared, with Tarkin of Eriadu up front gesturing like a conductor. A First Order drill sergeant would have found them sloppy, but they were a lot more in lockstep than any group of Resistance soldiers P.D. had ever seen.

            In fact, some of them had to be F.O. in plainclothes. He recognized a lot of the older delegates up front as reactionary members of the dead New Republic senate, who'd just so happened to be boycotting the legislature when Starkiller opened fire (fancy that). But the backbenchers were fit young men and women in identical, crisply pressed black robes. He had the sudden suspicion that a lot of the new "senators" representing First Order "settlements" in the Unknown Regions were just whatever superfluous junior officer their base commander had decided to send.

            So there was no question of splitting the pro-F.O. bloc. And if even some of the neutrals or wavering pro-Republic senators went over, Kylo Ren would have his majority. Democracy would die, again, with thunderous applause....

            A collective gasp from the assembled senators -- genuine, not orchestrated -- shook him out of his thoughts. Up on the screen, the two super-TIEs had put on a staggering burst of speed and looped around the clunky patrol corvettes the Visshians had sent to escort them.

            Kylo Ren had to be one of the pilots, then. But who was the other? Whoever he was, he and Kylo moved together like two halves of one mind, like figure skaters cutting across the ice. No two normal pilots were that in sync. That meant another Force-sensitive, probably a Knight of Ren....

            More gasps from the crowd as the TIE fighters danced through the sky, then a ripple of laughter. They'd already entered the atmosphere and were _chasing_ each other over the Visshian capital, he realized, teasing and feinting as they spiraled down towards the surface.

            The pilots were _playing_.

            Kylo Ren and Lady Rey. The charming young lovers.

            The boy who'd ruined Leia Organa's life and the girl Leia had trusted to find Luke Skywalker. To save them all. Who'd ruined them instead.

            A fluffy paw settled gently on his shoulder. The Wookie purr-gurgled kindly in his ear.

            "You okay, Senator Holdo?" asked three-eyed Kandak. "You look like you're about to have an aneurysm."

            "I'm fine," P.D. said automatically, scratching nervously at his beard. "Well, seething with outrage at the murdering bastards who've conquered half the galaxy, but, y'know, other than that, fine."

            "I know the feeling."

            The fighters zigzagged around skyscrapers -- more gasps -- and then rocketed towards a familiar-looking opera house. _Hey, that's where_...

            The TIEs _screamed_ past, one on each side of the great hall, rattling the windows and making the entire senate jump. There was a moment of awed silence before nervous laughter filled the building.

            ... _we are._

            On the screens, the TIEs flew around the building in opposite directions, avoiding a head-on collision with a last-second roll. They converged on the landing pad to touch down nose-to-nose.

            _Showboating bastards_ , P.D. thought, joining the applause in spite of himself. If they'd been his pilots, he'd had grounded them for a week. But you had to admire people who flew like that and didn't die trying.

            The TIE cockpits opened. Kylo Ren and Lady Rey stuck their heads out, smiling and waving, to a chorus of gasps from everyone who'd been too slow to figure out who the pilots were already. P.D. managed to stop clapping as the applause reached a fever pitch. Was Rey trying to fix her _dress_ before she got out? He couldn't see....

            The big _Upsilon_ shuttles landed without fuss -- for all their speed, the TIEs had spent so much thrust showboating they hadn't actually gotten that far ahead -- and disgorged stormtroopers with the red-dusted armor that seemed to signify some new First Order elite. Then five general-officer types marched out of one, led by an especially smug Hux with some kind of pimp cane and fur-lined coat. Four young people in black robes sauntered out of the other shuttle. P.D. had no idea who they were until he realized a voice-over announcer was identifying them as Knights of Ren.

            The little blond one, that had to be General Antilles's kid. He'd survived the massacre at Skywalker's temple after all. Maybe it would've been better if he hadn't.

            <Mercure Ren, Knight of Ren, Duke of Mustafar, and Keeper of the Relics,> the voice-over intoned fawningly when the camera focused on the boy -- the young man, now. Biggs Antilles, _that_ was his real name. Well, with a name like that, maybe you would to turn to the dark side just to get a new one.

            The First Order dignitaries lined up behind Hux and marched off two by two, a Knight of Ren and a military type in each pair, with the boy Emperor and traitor Empress bringing up the rear arm-in-arm. They entered the concert hall -- the F.O. bloc erupted in frenzied HAILs -- and marched down the center aisle through their ecstatic supporters, then up the stairs onto the stage.

            <Kylo Ren! Master of the Knights of Ren! Supreme Leader of the First Order! Protector of the Senate!> the announcer squealed. <Lady Rey! Mother of Emperors!>

            "Protector of the Senate," Kandak, muttered. "Nice."

            "I feel very safe," P.D. whispered back, fussing with his beard. No one near them was cheering, but he could see a smattering of other non-First Order senators applauding with varying degrees of politeness or even enthusiasm.

            Kylo Ren raised his right arm in salute -- the First Order flunkies fell silent at once -- and shouted, "Hail the Senate!"

            "Hail the Senate!" shouted Rey and the dignitaries behind her.

            "HAIL THE EMPEROR!" shouted the First Order senators in return.

            The woman next to P.D. muttered, "that didn't count as acclaiming him, does it?"

            "Not a majority," the man replied.

            "Do they care?" she asked. He shrugged.

            "Honorable Senators," Kylo Ren said, looking regal and aloof and maybe a little bored, "I welcome you to this first meeting of the restored and lawful Senate."

            When the applause (yes, more applause) had died down, Kylo gestured to the girl. "Lady Rey and I have been chosen by the Force." He nodded to the Knights, on his left. "We have been acclaimed by the military." He nodded to officers, on his right. "With the endorsement of the Senate and the people, our legitimacy will be beyond doubt, and we can restore peace and order to the galaxy."

            An eruption of HAILs again. Kylo Ren _definitely_ looked bored. He scanned the audience -- for a moment he seemed to look directly at P.D. and smile -- until the cheering died down.

            "Honorable Senators," Rey said, "if you insert your credentials into the data pad on your seat" -- Gran pointed out P.D.'s -- "you will see a parliamentary interface. This will allow you to vote for or against a motion, to ask to be recognized to speak, and to endorse another Senator's request to speak. Whoever has the most endorsements will speak first."

            "That sounds pretty democratic," P.D. said.

            "Except the F.O. guys are going to vote in lockstep," Kandak said, "while we've had no time to plan and will end up splitting our votes."

            Sure enough, Tarkin's name leapt to the top of the big screen with ten times as many endorsements as the next speaker.

            "Senator Tarkin of Eriadu...." Rey began.

            "Before we recognize the honorable Senator Tarkin," Kylo Ren interrupted with a dangerous smile -- Rey looked at him, failing to hide her surprise -- "I'm sure you'll all indulge me in calling on an old friend." Behind him, the two older F.O. officers, an ancient ghoul of a man and an old fart with a mustache, put their heads together nervously. Crazy Kylo had already gone off-script....

            "Poe Dameron," Kylo Ren said with a predatory smile, "a.k.a. P.D. Holdo, Senator from Gatalenta, please rise."

            _Uh oh_.

            "And take off that false beard," the Supreme Leader and almost-Emperor chuckled, "you look _ridiculous_."

            Kandak and the Wookiee turned to stare at P.D.

            "Yeah, yeah, that’s me." He stood slowly and pulled off the fake beard -- well, at least he could get rid of that itchy abomination -- as more and more Senators turned to stare.

            Kylo Ren smiled. "You talk first."

            Poe reminded himself to breathe. "Kylo Ren. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, not after I _escaped_ your Star Destroyer right under your nose." There was a disapproving murmur from the F.O. seats but excited whispers from the rest of the hall. "Yes, everyone, I'm Poe Dameron Holdo, Captain in the Resistance Starfighter Corps and now Senator for Gatalenta...."

            "Are you even _from_ Gatalenta?" Kylo Ren interrupted.

            "I am now," Poe said. "I was adopted by the family of a fallen comrade. Admiral Amilyn Holdo. You owe her your job, Kylo." The Supreme Leader's scowl was a delight to see. "She was the one who rammed the _Supremacy_ and killed Snoke."

            A ripple of excitement ran through pro-Republic Senators.

            "A suicide attack," Kylo Ren spat. "Typical of _terrorists_."

            "Really?" Poe said, feeling the crowd or the Force or _something_ rallying to him. "Because _I'm_ alive -- and I'm the only reason any of us is here, the only reason you're trying to get planets to _vote_ instead of _detonate_ , is that you feel _weak..._ "

            "We are _not_..."

            "...ever since I fired the shot that _destroyed Starkiller base_!"

            Applause. None from the First Order bloc, of course, but a surprising surge from pro-Republic and even neutral Senators. Kylo Ren was fuming. The good guys just might be able to turn this a....

            "You think _you_ destroyed _Starkiller_?" rang out Lady Rey's voice, high and pure and contemptuous. All eyes turned from Poe to her as she sat down heavily in her throne and dissolved in helpless laughter.

            Next to Poe, the Wookiee growled softly.

            "I dunno, but if she's faking," Kandak answered, "she's an _amazing_ actress."

            "Rey, beloved," Kylo Ren drawled, smiling again, "don't make fun of poor Poe. I'm sure he really thinks he did it."

            "I'm sorry," Lady Rey laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just... Captain Poe-Holdo, or whatever your name is, when you were a boy, when you went to bed, did you think your doing so made the sun go down?" She sighed. “Grand Admiral Vesper, please explain to the young captain.”

            The old officer with the mustache stepped forward, chuckling paternally, and Poe realized he’d stepped into a trap. They’d anticipated someone would bring up Starkiller, of course, and they’d rehearsed a response. The only one of them up there on the stage who didn’t seem smug was Hux.

            “Starkiller channeled the power of a _sun_ through a mere planetary body,” Vesper said, gesturing with his baton. “Enough energy to cross the galaxy and destroy multiple planets, all pouring through a _single_ planet.”

            Vesper tugged his mustache. “It was a triumph of First Order engineering that Starkiller held together for a single shot. But we knew one shot was all it would take to break the back of the false Republic. After that, it was always our plan to evacuate before the residual energies consumed the planet.”

            “That’s a _lie_!” Poe shouted. “I was there! You were charging the weapon for a second shot, a shot at our base on D’Qar....”

            “We smashed your base on D'Qar with one salvo from one dreadnought,” Vesper said, shooting a glare at Hux. “Why would we have wasted Starkiller on it? You must think us fools.”

            “I was there!” Poe shouted, but he could feel he was losing the crowd. “Our squadrons pounded the, the thermal oscillator thingy...”

            “Oh, this is just _too much_ ,” Hux burst in, clearly unable to contain himself. “Yes, there was a Resistance strike on Starkiller — rather too late to help Hosnian, of course — that did disrupt our planned evacuation somewhat.” He preened. “Their Majesties and I stayed until the last moment to ensure all but a handful of our people got out safely. The blood of those who didn’t is on your hands, Captain.”

            “The blood of...?” Poe sputtered. “You killed _billions_ in the Hosnian System!”

            “A legitimate military target,” Hux snapped. “Really, no one forced the so-called New Republic to concentrate its main fleet, its military headquarters, and its political leadership in a single, densely populated system.”

            “You will note,” Rey cut in, “that when _you_ attacked _our_ headquarters, the _Supremacy_ , no civilians died because none were present. _We_ do not hide our forces among innocents.”

            “That ...that's not...” Poe shook his head. “Your morality comes from some kind of mirror universe. You’ve tossed logic into a black hole and turned it inside out.”

            He felt a gentle tap on his leg. It was the Wookiee, gently shaking its head.

            Poe wouldn’t sit down, dammit. “ _I fired the shot_ ,” he said through gritted teeth. “I saw it blow. We lit the spark that’ll start the fire...”

            “Do you think we’re stupid enough to build another weapon as vulnerable as the Death Star?” Kylo Ren said, sneering at Hux for some reason. “Are you stupid enough to think you’re the next Luke Skywalker?”

            “No, I never...”

            “I knew Luke Skywalker,” Kylo Ren growled dangerously. “I trained under him. I felt his strength in the Force. And I _killed_ _him_.”

            Utter silence.

            “And you, Captain Dameron,” Kylo Ren said softly, “are no Luke Skywalker.”

            Poe sat down.

            Kylo Ren sat down in his throne. “We recognize the honorable gentleman from Eriadu, Senator Tarkin."

            “My fellow citizens....” Tarkin began, but the rest was drowned out by the blood pounding in Poe’s ears.

 

***

 

_Rey_

            “I think the first session went rather well,” Admiral Vesper said at dinner, meticulously dabbing at his mustache with a napkin.

            “It went on _forever_ ,” Kylo grumbled, hacking savagely at his steak. It was very rare.

            Klimenti poured herself a little wine. “You did brilliantly, my lord. Although you gave us all a start when you went off script.” She chuckled. “Did you see Tarkin’s face when the Supreme Leader called on someone else?”

            “Did you see Poe’s face,” Kylo smirked, “by the time I called on Tarkin?”

            “Utterly destroyed,” Kindjal Ren said, raising her glass. “I think Lady Rey’s laughter was what really turned the tide. Very convincing.”

            “Thank you,” Rey said, feeling slightly sick. She picked at her salad as the others toasted her.

            Hocht -- who'd been resolutely avoiding Kindjal Rey's smoldering glances all evening -- looked up from his data pad for the first time. “I've had a double agent give out 'stolen' photos of the _Tarkin_ battlestation under construction, misdated to make work seem further along, so the entire Senate should think we have another planet-killer ready without our having to say so, which might seem crass."

            "Good, good," said Vesper.

            "We should _actually_ finish it," Hux muttered, stabbing a roasted brussels sprout.

            "I’m still not confident of a majority, however," Hocht went on, ignoring both of them. "My lord, may I...”

            “You’ve been bribing the neutrals?” Vesper interrupted.

            “Of course,” Hocht said with his characteristic exasperated eye-roll, “but we’ve held off on outright threats to people’s homeworlds ...”

            “... or even their families,” Kindjal sighed.

            “Well, that’s silly,” snapped Hux, who’d been in a mood ever since the Starkiller discussion.

            “It was a special request from Lady Rey,” Hocht said.

            “Most merciful,” Hux said quickly, paling, and drained his wine.

            “We will win this vote honestly,” Rey said with more confidence than she felt, “because we are in the right and the people of the galaxy will see it. What else do men like Poe-Holdo have to offer them but endless war?”

            “Hear hear!” Hux said. Rey’s skin crawled at the sight of him.

            “And to ensure my lady gets her wish,” Hocht said, “let’s bring in the first of our distinguished visitors, shall we?”

            “Aughh, more politics.” Kylo cut a slice of rare steak so savagely that red juice spurted onto the white tablecloth.

            “My love....” Rey said.

            “Yes, yes, the things I do for love,” Kylo said. “Bring them in.”

            Hocht nodded to Crimson, standing guard at the door, who opened it and shouted, “The honorable Senator Rosten Kowski of Coruscant!”

            A fat, bald man in black robes hustled in. “Your Majesties, Your Graces,” he said with a cursory bow. “I don’t understand why you permitted the Corellian amendment. When we discussed...”

            He'd lost Kylo Ren already. “The what now?”

            “The amendment to Tarkin’s bill proposing the new capital planet should be Corellia, my love,” Rey said.

            “Oh.” Kylo chuckled. “My second favorite part of the day. Like shoving a stick down an ant hole.”

            “Yes, sire,” the Senator fumed. “The New Republic's decision to move the capital for the first time in millennia was the very thing that lost them our support. When Coruscant pledged its loyalty to the First Order, we had no _idea_ you would even _consider_ another capital!”

            “We’re not considering it,” Hocht said.

            “It didn’t look that way to me, Hoch,” the Senator said.

            "Hoch _t_."

            "Yes. Excuse me, my lord Marshal.”

            “It’ll never pass, Senator,” Hocht said. "The Corellians and their lackeys will vote for Corellia, but no one else. The Eboricans will introduce an amendment saying it should be Eborica, the Deltans will say Delta, the 'New Sith' crazies will say Korriban just to get everyone worked up.... “

            “It’ll splinter the opposition into a dozen factions,” Vesper chuckled, “and none of them will manage a majority, and they’ll be exhausted and exasperated with each other before they get a chance to vote on anything of substance.” He raised his glass to Hocht. “A brilliant stratagem, my dear Marshal.”

            Hocht sighed as the Senator spluttered, “ _You_ put the Corellians up to it?”

            “Yes,” Hocht said, scowling at Vesper, “we had to because even they aren’t dumb enough to think they’ll win this, Senator, so count the votes again and _relax_.”

            The Senator harrumphed. “Well, I’ll hold you to that, Your Grace. And I...”

            “Collect your money from the stormtroopers on your way out, Senator,” Hocht said. “Good evening.”

            “Good evening,” the Senator said, bowing with ill grace. “Your Graces, Your Majesties.”

            “Thank you for your loyalty, Senator Kowski,” Rey said, forcing herself to smile instead of vomit. She kicked Kylo lightly under the table.

            “Yes, thank you, Cow Ski,” he said, not looking up from his plate. “You may go.”

            “Would it kill you to smile?” Rey whispered.

            “No,” Kylo hissed back, “but I’ve smiled at things all day and I might have killed _him_. All this democracy is exhausting and I’ll be glad when we’re done with it.”

            “Kylo,” she said, “that’s not exactly...”

            “Senator Poe Dameron Holdo of Gatalenta,” Crimson announced.

            Hocht startled and looked down at his data pad. “No, that can't be right, he's not even on...”

            “So many things aren’t right here, it’s not funny,” said Poe-Holdo or whatever his name was, striding arrogantly into the room. “Hey, Rey. Do you remember, we met briefly on D’Qar?”

            “I don’t recall,” she said, feeling herself turn red as Vesper, Kindjal, and the others looked at her appraisingly. Only Hocht looked unsurprised, although she couldn’t tell if that was his usual poker face or his spy network having already told him she'd been in the Resistance for a day.

            “You’re already on thin ice, Poe, don’t jump up and down,” Kylo said. “What do you want?"

            "I want..."

            "Are you even here to negotiate in good faith?”

            “I am.”

            “Don’t lie to telepaths who’ve already rummaged through your tiny brain. What do you really want?”

            “I want to see General Organa.”

            There was silence, except for the sound of Silva chewing obliviously, poring over a data pad of engine specs.

            “You sound,” Kylo said at last, “very confident that’s even an option.”

            “I know she’s alive and I know she’s here,” Poe-Holdo said. “Your man Hoch has been taking senators to see her like a tigress in a zoo.”

            "Hoch _t_ ," Hocht said wearily. "Many of them were concerned about her well-being. They came away quite satisfied.”

            “And the others?”

            “Wanted to confirm such an infamous rabble-rouse was really in custody,” Hocht said. “I imagine you are in the first category?”

            Poe-Holdo had to think about that for a second. “You mean I’m concerned about her safety? Yeah. She’s been a mentor to me. Almost a second mother.”

            Rey suddenly felt terribly, heart-breakingly tired.

            “And when you see that she is well,” Hocht asked, “will you and your fellow Resistance holdouts negotiate a peace agreement in good faith?”

            “It’d be a start,” Poe-Holdo said grudgingly. "If you actually started treating prisoners well, maybe the First Order's evolving into something we can deal with."

            "Well," said Kylo with a transparent attempt at bonhomie, "it's settled."

            Hocht shot a skeptical glance at Kylo, who just nodded curtly. "As my lord wishes," Hocht said. "I shall arrange for you to see her after dinner.”

            “You’re too kind,” Poe-Holdo said.

            “Quite possibly,” Kylo said. “You may go.”

            Poe-Holdo began a stiff little bow before he caught himself and stopped with an expression of disgust.

            As soon as he was gone, Hocht turned to Kylo. “My lord, I presume that he was lying?”

            “About making peace? I would think so. But his mind is murky, churning.”

            “People like that will never make peace,” Rey spat, alarmed by her own vehemence. “He’ll try to rescue her, you know that?”

            “Really?” Hux said. “That seems unusually stupid.”

            “Never underestimate stupidity,” Rey said, “or the ability of people to blind themselves to realities they don’t want to see.” That sounded strange once she said it aloud, but she pushed the thought aside.

            “Yes,” Kylo said. “We’ll _finally_ have some fun.”

 

***

 

_Hocht_

            “... and as you can see, Senators, the Queen Mother is in good health and has every comfort,” Hocht repeated for the fifth or sixth time that evening. He gestured at Organa, who sat stiffly on an antique chaise with her face averted from the one-way mirror. She probably knew that it was there, old jailbird that she was, which made it an even bigger weak point. But soon the little tour groups would be done and they could move her to a properly secured but pleasantly furnished bedroom for the night....

            “Hoch, I need to talk to her,” Poe interrupted. The other senators in the group, who’d been steering clear of him to start with, shuffled a little further away.

            “Really,” Hocht said, rubbing his temple to forestall the headache he could feel coming. “Would you like to give her a novelty cake in the shape of a blaster pistol? Or perhaps a cutting torch artfully concealed in a bouquet of flowers? High-explosive ear rings? An X-wing? Captain, you must think I’m an utter fool.”

            “Well, you are First Order.”

            “Ha. Ha.”

            “I mean, my odds weren’t bad.”

            Poe reached for the one-way mirror but Hocht’s frown froze him. “Nor may you tap out a coded message on the glass.”

            “Aww, I like that one.” Poe’s smirk faded. “Look, Hoch...”

            “Hoch _t_.”

            “... I love this woman like my own mother. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

            _Fun_ , Hocht thought. _Kylo Ren thinks giving this fool enough rope to hang himself is fun._

            “Very well,” Hocht said.

            “Wait,” one of the other senators, a big fat one, spoke up. “Can we all...”

            “Full strip search and cavity search,” Hocht said, “and I’m never more than three feet away.”

            “Never mind,” mumbled the fat Senator.

            “Sure,” said Poe.

 

***

 

_Leia_

            Poe.

            They’d captured Poe, Leia thought as the gaunt Hocht led her favorite pilot into the room, wearing some kind of hospital gown.

            The hits just kept coming.

            “It’s okay, I’m okay,” Poe said hastily, seeing her expression. “I’m not a prisoner, I’m a Senator.”

            “What.”

            “From Gatalenta.”

            “You’re not from...”

            “Admiral Holdo’s family adopted me, so I’m a citizen and everything,” Poe said. “And the planetary government is holding out for the Republic, so I’m representing them in this madhouse.” He forced a smile. “It’s the least I owe them.”

            The reminder of Amilyn hurt, but Leia found herself chuckling in spite of everything. Poe had that effect.

            "Typical Poe Dameron boondoggle,” Leia laughed. “Except you haven’t jumped in a cockpit and blown anything up yet.”

            “Oh, that comes later.”

            “Uh-huh. Is the hospital gown part of the plan too?”

            “Part of _his_ plan.” Poe nodded at Hocht. “You’ll be glad to know my prostate is in great shape.”

            “Yes, that was foremost among my worries in the situation,” Leia said.

            They both seemed to run dry on quips at the same time and just stared at each other, with Hocht staring intently at them both. There was so much more to say than words could carry and no breathing room to say it.

            “I’m proud of you, you know,” Leia said softly.

            “I know.”

            “And on that heartwarming note, young Captain Dameron must take his leave,” Hocht said, stepping even closer.

            “ _What_?” she snapped.

            “I underwent a cavity search for two lousy minutes?” Poe said.

            “You weren’t kidding about the prostrate thing?” Leia asked.

            “Wish I was,” he said. “Look, Hoch...”

            “Hoch _t_. My analysts will have to go over every second of this little meeting looking for coded messages in your words or gestures, and every minute you stay costs them at least another twenty-three, so we’re keeping this short.”

            “Heaven forefend,” Leia rasped, “that we force the secret police to work overtime.”

            “Yeah, we wouldn’t want them to _stay up late_ ,” Poe said, smiling at Leia on those last three words.

            “Yes, analyzing things _exactly_ like that,” Hocht sighed. “Say your good-byes now.”

            “Good-bye, Poe,” Leia said, hating that she was choking up in front of this First Order ghoul.

            “I love you, Leia Organa,” Poe said, then took her in his arms and kissed her.

            On the mouth.

            With... tongue? Was Poe Dameron giving her....

            Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.

            Her own tongue managed to catch the small, hard ball before it rolled down into her windpipe and choked her. Felt like a marble. Tasted like... something she hoped wouldn’t give her oral cancer, but it had a metallic quality that made her reluctant to place any bets.

            Poe broke the kiss and looked apologetic. “Sorry, General.”

            Hocht looked horrified. “What in every unmerciful hell....?”

            “I just, I might never have another chance to do, uh, that,” Poe said, sheepishly. “I couldn’t think of anything else to...”

            “Mmmm, s’okay,” Leia said, hoping Hocht wouldn’t notice she was talking around a foreign object.

            “Well, you’ve done quite enough for one evening, young man!” Hocht said, hustling Poe out the door. “ _Really_. She’s old enough to be your _grandmother_....”

            “I heard that!” Leia called after them, having finally tucked whatever-it-was safely in her cheek. “And it’s his mother I’m old enough to be!”

            _Poe’s breaking me out_ , she thought, and she felt young enough to be his sister.

 

***

 

_TK-8008_

            "Hold on," TK-8008 said. "What about this one?"

            The Visshian security officers had already headed over to the next hangar. "What about it, stormtrooper?"

            "It's a Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300."

            "Yes, like half the old junkers in the galaxy. So?"

            "We've got a watch order out for a YT-1300," TK-8008 said, trying to keep his temper. Non-First-Order personnel were all undisciplined idiots. "The _Millennium Falcon_."

            The security officer sighed. "Everyone knows what the famous ship of Solo looks like, trooper. It has a gun on top..."

            "That cargo pod bolted on top could be concealing a gun emplacement."

            "...and a gap in the front."

            "They could have filled that in."

            Another sigh. "Trooper, this is the..." The officer checked his data pad. "... _Epoch Porg_ out of Dantooine."

            "What's a 'porg'?"

            A shrug. "Mythical man-eating sea monster, I think."

            "You sure it's not one of those bird things hopping around inside the cockpit?"

            A glance. "Those aren't birds. They don't have wings."

            "There are wingless birds!"

            "No. Such. Thing." The officer held up the data pad. "This is the _Epoch Porg_ , not the _Millennium Falcon_ , and all her paperwork checks out."

            "Paperwork can be forged...."

            "Oh good grief. If you want to check out common ship types with clean paper every time you get a _hunch_ , we'll be here all night. Come on."

            The security officer turned on his heel and headed off. Stormtrooper TK-8008 hesitated a moment, then followed.

            " _Epoch_ and _Millennium_ are both periods of time," he protested, feeling himself losing the argument. "And if _Falcon_ and _Porg_ are both birds..."

            "It's not a bird!"

            "All right, all right, I'm coming."

 

 

***

 

_Leia_

            “Good night, Queen-Mother,” the red-dusted stormtrooper intoned, ceremoniously ushering her into her cell. The stormies were really into all this royalty stuff for some reason.

            “Good night, CN-2409,” she said. “Or could I call you...”

            “Their Majesties will see my face and speak my name when I have earned it, ma’am. I need no name from you.”

            He left.

            She sighed and shuffled painfully toward the sink. They’d brought everything over from _Relentless_ , from Snoke’s gold bedsheets — like she’d ever be able to fall sleep on those — to the Tarkin portrait to the Star Destroyer clock that Ben had fixed. He was so good at fixing mechanical things, so terrible with people.

            She splashed her face, rinsed her mouth, spat out the water in her hands and caught the little round ball she’d had in her mouth for the last two hours. She made some unpleasant hacking sounds in hopes the watching First Order think that was why she was hunched over the sink so long.

            What was it? Small, metallic, bluish, strangely heavy…

            Her heart leapt. A hyperspace beacon core. One of an entangled pair. Poe must have the other. He could use it to find her in this labyrinth of a palace….

            …. if she could just find a power source.

            Well, crap.

            She slipped the core into her pocket as she surveyed the room. Plenty of First Order artwork but no electronics, they’d been careful about that. No power outlets either. Presumably the surveillance devices had some kind of power source but she suspected they were on the ceiling, out of her reach, and in any case the watchers would notice immediately if she messed with them.

            Nine hells and damnation, was she going to lose her chance to escape because she couldn't find a lousy battery? She took a deep breath to calm herself. Calm…. quiet… receptive…

            (tick)

            Wait. A. Second.

            (tick)

            Where was _that_ coming from?

            (tick)

            The _clock_.

            (tick)

            The little Star Destroyer clock that Ben had fixed for her.

            _Bless you, Ben, you sad, damned soul._

            “Curse you, Ben Solo!” she shouted as she swept the clock off the counter onto the floor, as hard as she could, so hard she hurt her wrist.

            “Ow,” she said, but she smiled, because the clock had broken open, and inside she could see the battery.

            “That was stupid,” she said aloud for the First Order’s benefit, nursing her wrist. “I’d better try to fix that before Ben notices…”

            She sat right down on the floor and went to work with a fierce joy in her heart.

 

***

 

_P.D. Holdo_

            "I can't see a thing in this helmet," Poe muttered.

            "Shut up," Finn whispered. "No chatter."

            "How do you guys see..."

            " _Shut. Up._ "

            The two of them marched through the gleaming palace, the mirrors on the walls reflecting their stolen stormtrooper armor with its hastily applied red dust. No one had shot them yet, so it looked like Rose had indeed successfully recoded the identification transponders built into the armor.

            "Where are you two going?" It was a trooper with red dust on his helmet -- everyone else had theirs on the body or arms -- and a red pauldron on one shoulder. That meant....

            "Hail Captain Crimson!" Finn said, saluting.

            "Hail Vader! But what are you up to?"

            "Sir, signature management, sir!" Finn pointed to the flickering hyperspace tracker in Poe's white-armored hand. "We're tracing an unauthorized emission from somewhere in the palace, sir."

            "Give me that." Crimson held out a hand and Poe hesitated, but he couldn't break character. He handed it over. "What is this thing, KN-3209? I don't recognize it."

            "High sensitivity low-band tracer, sir," Finn said. "Special issue from Marshal Hoch's people, sir, don't ask me how it works."

            "ISB," Crimson said with distaste. "Well, if _Hoch's_ cleared it..." He handed the thing back as if it were a dead bug. "...then carry on."

            "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

            "Hail Vader!"

            "Hail Vader!"

            Crimson tromped on down the corridor in the other direction.

            Poe reminded himself to breathe. "Fast thinking, Finn..."

            "I'm KN-3209," Finn hissed back. "And you're KN-0192."

            "Sorry."

            They hustled off down the hallway. The tracker was flashing faster and faster: They were getting close.

            "Here!" Poe whispered. They peered down a side corridor: Two red-dust troopers were standing by a heavy door inlaid with ivory carvings.

            "Just two?" Finn muttered. "I have a _bad_ feeling about this."

            "Just get ready to spike the surveillance system, KN-3209."

            "What are you two looking at?" one of the guards called. "This corridor's off limits."

            "Hail Vader!" Poe said and headed towards them, Finn following.

            "Hail Vader! But what..."

            "Signature management," Poe said, showing them the tracker, which was flashing so fast it was almost a continuous glow. "Are you picking up any strange signals?"

            "No," the guard said, bending over the tracker. "What is this thing?"

            "Spike," Finn said.

            "Resistance tech," Poe said and shot both guards on STUN at point-blank range. He caught one before he hit the ground but the other clattered noisily to the tile floor. "You sure stun bolts won't set off the blast detectors?"

            "Yes," Finn said. "We got 90 seconds before the surveillance cameras reset." He slipped Rose's crudely cobbled-together electromagnetic pulse device back in his utility belt, then pulled out a slicer key and shoved it in the door. The lock clicked open. "I'll stand watch."

            Poe nodded and stepped inside. It was dark -- no lights, no windows -- but he could make out a female form in the elaborate canopy bed.

            "Leia," he whispered, "it's Poe, I'm here to rescue...."

            "Wrong girl," the woman said in an icy, impeccable Core accent.

            _Oh no_.

            With an ominous hum, Rey's lightsaber lit up, illuminating the room in eerie blue. "The short-range hyperspace beacon was a clever idea," she said, standing, "but you forget there's one person in the First Order who's familiar with that technology."

            She tossed him the bracelet Leia had given her before sending her to find Luke.

            "You traitor b..."

            "I've betrayed no one," Rey said, advancing. " _No one_. I'm the one who _saved_ Leia on Crait, who saved all of them, and now you're putting her at risk with another insane stunt."

            "KN-3209," Poe called, backing away, "Leia and Rey switched bedrooms....."

            "Can't you see you're just prolonging the inevitable?" Rey went on relentlessly. "Can't you see a First Order victory will save lives? Can't you see I'm..."

            "Sorry, lady," Poe said. "I can't see a _thing_ in this helmet."

            He switched his blaster to KILL and fired.

            She batted the blast away effortlessly with her saber, of course, but the distraction gave him time to turn and bolt out the door.

            "Run run run run!" he shouted to Finn, not slowing down. He grabbed his comlink: "Chewie, we're blown!"

            "That's _Rey_?" Finn said.

            _Oh no_.

            Poe glanced back -- still not slowing down -- to see Finn standing stupidly in the doorway as Rey ran forward, saber in hand.

            "Rey," Finn begged, one hand reaching to remove his helmet, "it's..."

            She cut him down.

 

***

 

_Rey_

            "Rey," the imposter said, one hand clenching his blaster, "it's..."

            She cut him down. _Poe-Holdo's the ringleader, he mustn't escape...._

            Poe never stopped running. He just screamed: " _FINN!_ "

            Finn?

            Rey stopped dead, spun round, and with one precise slice of her saber cut the trooper's helmet off his face.

            Finn's eyes were wide with panic, darting everywhere. "R...." he hissed with the last breath leaving his body. Then his eyes were still.

            _No._

            "No," Rey said helplessly. "No, no, no, I didn't _know_ , _no!_ " She heard blaster fire behind her and turned to see Poe leaping over the smoking corpse of one of her stormtroopers.

            " _YOU_!" she shrieked after him as the mirrors on the walls began to crack. "This is _your_ fault!"

            She charged down the hallway, howling, as the mirrors exploded around her and the tiles shattered underfoot. " _YOUR FAULT_!"

            Stormtroopers dove for cover as she raged through the palace after Poe, the Force smashing everything she passed. Deep inside, she could feel her babies _screaming_ , screaming in terror, and it was _all his fault_...

            She cornered the vermin on a balcony. He'd lost his blaster in the charge but he ripped his helmet off -- his face was hideous with hate -- and threw it at her. She slashed it aside.

            "Nowhere to run," she hissed, "you _rebel scum._ "

            He threw himself over the balcony.

            "What."

            Then she heard the familiar roar of the _Falcon_ 's engines underneath her. She dove back into the building just before the ship smashed through the balcony from below with Poe clinging precariously to the gun turret. She could see Chewbacca in the cockpit with a short fat woman she didn't recognize and some... _Porgs_???

            "Baby," Poe shouted over the engines, "we rebels were _born_ to run!"

            The _Falcon_ screamed skyward.

            Rey watched it go through the huge new hole in the side of the palace.

            "My lady?" gasped a stormtrooper, picking himself up from the rubble. "Are you all..."

            "This isn't over," she snarled, trembling. " _Get me to my ship_."

 

***

 

_TK-8008_

            "Yes, sir, I'm aware there was watch order out for a YT-1300 freighter," TK-8008 said miserably into his comlink as he surveyed the empty hangar bay. "No, sir, Visshian security insisted _Epoch Porg_ was clean...."

 

 

***

 

_P.D. Holdo_

            Poe batted aside a Porg as he scrambled into the cockpit of the lurching _Falcon_ and threw himself in one of the back seats.

            "Where's Finn?" Rose said, voice tight, eyes fixed on the controls.

            "He...Rose, I..."

            "He didn't make it, did he?" she choked.

            "I'm sorry."

            "I'm sure he died trying to save the woman he loved," Rose said bitterly.

            "Finn loved Leia?" Poe said. "Well, everybody loves...."

            "No, you idiot. _Rey_."

            "Oh," Poe said. " _Oh_."

            Chewbacca made an awful groaning gurgling sound.

            "You said it," Rose said.

            "You understand him?" Poe asked.

            "No."

            The ship shook.

            "Two TIEs on our tail," Rose said. "Weird ones."

            "That's the Vendetta prototypes. Kylo Ren and Rey." He jumped up. "C'mon, Rose, let's get to the guns."

            She looked at him finally, eyes bright with tears and fury.

            "C'mon," he repeated. "You might shoot the bitch who did this."

            "I like that," she said, getting up.

            Chewbacca made another horrible noise and pointed at out the window at the rapidly approaching eight-mile-long Super Star Destroyer.

            "Rose and I'll handle the fighters, you handle the _Relentless_ ," Poe said, patting the Wookiee on the shoulder.

            The Wookiee said something unpronounceable and probably unprintable.

 

***

 

_Piett_

            "Captain Piett!" a petty officer called from one of the crew pits below. "They're heading straight towards us!"

            "I can see that," Piett said, spotting the rapidly growing speck of the _Falcon_ against the night side of Visshi.

            "Captain," said her Executive Officer, Baylin, "the superlaser...."

            "Would blow right through them and hit the planet," she snapped. "Or worse, the Emperor. Or worse yet, _the Empress_." She couldn't see the two fighters at this distance, but a glance at the tracking screen showed they were right on the _Falcon_ 's tail. All three ships were streaking straight towards them...

            "Emergency 180, now!" she shouted.

            "What?" Baylin yelped at the same time as the helm officer shouted "Aye aye!" The ship didn't lurch -- at least the inertial compensators worked -- but the view out the windows spun sickeningly as auxiliary thrusters whipped the ship around like a top.

            <Piett!> Kylo Ren's voice hissed over the overhead speakers. < _Why_ are you now pointing the _wrong way_? >

            Collision alarms sounded as the _Falcon_ streaked right past the bridge tower -- Baylin ducked -- closely followed by the two black blurs of starfighters. All three ships rocketed off into space -- in the same direction the _Relentless_ was now pointing.

            <Ohhhhh,> the Supreme Leader said. <That was actually quite clever.>

            "Maximum acceleration!" Baylin shouted, pointing at the rapidly shrinking specks.

            "Belay that!" Piett snapped. "Engineering, bring engines up to 80 percent _carefully_ and _watch the power flow_."

            "Yes, Captain."

            She turned to Baylin. "If we blow the power relays _now_ , it's crushed tracheas for all of us, XO."

            "Quite right, Captain," he said. "I wasn't thinking."

            <Piett,> hissed another voice over the coms channel, the girl Rey this time, <we want them _alive_. >

            <We do?> That was Kylo Ren.

            <Yes, love, we do, for _interrogation_. > The girl sounded exasperated.

            <You're no fun today.> The boy sounded petulant. Palpatine help them, Piett thought, these were their leaders? A children's crusade....

            <We’ve already killed one too many,> Rey snapped, a strange edge to her voice. <Captain Piett, you’re blocking their jump to hyperspace?>

            “Yes, Majesty," Piett said, speaking into her wrist pickup to make sure the ruling children could hear. "Hyperspace interdictor is at 78 percent. Keep them wasting thrust dodging your shots and we’ll be in range for our tractor beam in...” She glanced at the weapons officer.

            “Two minutes, ma’am.”

            "...four minutes, my lady,” Piett said. Baylin arched an eyebrow. She pitched her voice low so their Majesties wouldn't hear: "Let's not run anything at full power if we don't have to."

            <Make it three,> the Supreme Leader snapped.

            "See?" Piett whispered. "Expectation management. Power management. Personnel management. The arts of captaincy."

            "Engines at 80 percent, Captain," the engineering officer called. "Power management is green across the board."

            "Good," she said. "Ease it up to 90, _carefully_."

 

***

 

_P.D. Holdo_

            Chewbacca's wailing roar filled Poe's headset.

            "I don't know!" Poe yelled back, desperately firing at the two super-TIEs as they danced around the _Falcon_ while _Relentless_ kept closing. "I've never seen a Star Destroyer that fast either! Just go to hyperspace already!"

            Chewbacca wailed some more.

            "What do you mean _we can't_?!?"

 

***

 

_Piett_

            "Captain, tractor beam is live and in range...."

            "Keep her under 50 percent," Piett said, eyes locked on the dancing glints of the _Falcon_ and the two fighters.

            "Then another... 45 seconds, Captain."

            "Once you've got a lock, you can go to 67 if they start to break away, but let engineering ease off the main drive _first_."

            "Yes, ma'am," chorused weapons and engineering.

            "Your Majesties," Piett said, "I'd advise you fall back, we're about to tractor them."

            <Excellent, Piett>, Rey said. <Prepare a boarding team. Blasters to stun.>

            "Already done, my lady."

            <If they pull some last-minute miracle and we _lose_ them because you wanted them _alive_ >, Kylo growled, <I shall _spank_ you. >

            An awkward silence fell over the bridge. Baylin leaned towards Piett and whispered, "Do they know we can all..."

            " _No_ ," she hissed, "and let's keep it that way."

            <Well,> Rey said nervously, <that could be...>

            <And _not_ in a fun way. >

            <Oh.>

            More awkward silence. Baylin knelt over the communications pit. "Two headsets and _take them off speaker_ ," he hissed.

            "Thank you, XO," Piett muttered as Baylin tossed her a headset.

            "Tractor in range," said the weapons officer, who was blushing.

            "Engage."

 

***

 

_P.D. Holdo_

            The whole ship rattled. The hull _crunched_ as if in an invisible vise.

            _Oh no_.

            "Chewie!" Poe yelled. "Emergency power, screw the safety override!"

 

***

 

_Piett_

            "They're fighting it," the weapons officer said. "Tractor at 45 percent.... 47..."

            "Engines!" Piett said. "Dial back to 80, they can't outrun us now."

            "Aye aye," the engineering officer called as his techs bent over their controls. "Easy now...."

            "Tractor beam to 67!" weapons barked.

            "Wait!" Piett snapped.

            "What?" Baylin yelped.

            "We're still at..." engineering began, and then all the lights on the bridge went out. ".....87 percent."

            "Oh _blast_ ," Baylin said to no one in particular.

 

***

 

_P.D. Holdo_

            Poe could smell something burning but the ship lurched forward and Chewbecca roared triumphantly.

            "The interdiction field is _gone_?" Poe said. "Then _punch_...."

            The ship leapt into hyperspace.

 

 

***

 

_Piett_

            The lights flickered back on.

            "Contact lost with target, Captain," the sensor officer reported. "Picking up aftershocks of a hyperspace transition event, outbound..."

            "Hyperspace tracking?" Piett said, throat tightening with desperate hope.

            "We're trying, Captain, but it's already too diffuse...."

            <Captain Piett>. Kylo Ren's voice crackled and seethed in her headset. <Are you tracking them?>

            "N-negative, my lord, they must have jumped as soon as the power failure... _hrrrrrrk_." She could feel her throat constrictinf, the carotid arteries pounding in her neck, her knees giving way as she toppled towards the deck -- someone caught her before she hit, probably Baylin, bless him....

            < _Failure_ is not a wise word to say to me, > Kylo Ren hissed. Her vision turned grey for lack of oxygen. <Allow me to extend that to 'fail,' 'fails,' 'failed,' and any participles thereof....>

            <Kylo!>

            <Rey, _shut_... >

            <It's not _her_ fault the ship is glitching! She didn't design the damn thing! >

            Static crackled in Piett's headphones as the universe went dark.

            <True,> said Kylo Ren at last.

            Piett drew in a long, shuddering breath.

            "Captain?" Baylin said. He was kneeling next to her on the deck. She seemed to be lying on her side but she wasn't sure which way was up.

            "Intercede for us..." she rasped.

            "Captain?"

            "...now and at the hour of our death." She struggled to her hands and knees but couldn't make it any further. "Your job's to mind the ship, XO, not me."  
            "Yes, ma'am." He stood and turned to the tactical display.

            "Though," she said, coughing up a little blood, "a medic might be nice."

 

***

 

_Vesper_

            "Oh dear," Vesper said, staring at the holographic tactical display floating over his desk. "Oh _damn_. Silva..."

            "It's really quite interesting as an example of cascading failure," Silva said, pulling up more data on his pad. "Not at all what was supposed to happen, of course. I'll have to go up to _Relentless_ to analyze exactly what happened...."

            "You really don't get it, do you?" asked Mercure Ren, who'd been thumbing through photos of Vesper's granddaughters and grand-nieces.

            INCOMING CALL: KYLO REN, the holo-projector flashed.

            "I'll get it," Silva said.

            "Don't!" Vesper said. Too late.

            <Hello, Marshal Silva,> Kylo Ren said brightly as Vesper ducked down out of sight. < _There_ you are. >

            Cowering underneath his own desk, Vesper heard a horrible _crunch_ of vertebrae.

            <And now you _aren't_. >

            Silva's body hit the floor right next to the desk. Vesper tried not to cry out. The man's neck was bent at an appalling angle, and his eyes bulged sightlessly....

            <Where's Mustache Man?>

            "Hiding under the desk," Mercure said. "Should I not marry into his family now?"

            Kylo Ren chuckled, an already unnerving sound made worse by the hissing static on the coms channel. <Come out from under the desk, Admiral.>

            "Y-yes, sire...." Vesper scrambled to his feet, painfully aware of his aging joints and the dust on his normally immaculate black uniform. "My lord, I.... _hhhhhhhssssk_...."

            <Admiral?>

            Vesper slumped against the wall but managed a feeble nod. His vision blurred.....

            <Find me another Marshal of Shipyards, Admiral. And check their work more carefully this time.>

            "....yesss....sssire..."

            Kylo Ren released him. Vesper collapsed onto his desk, gasping, heart pounding, tears streaming down his cheeks for the first time in years. He could see Breis Silva's body on the floor, face going pale as the blood stopped circulating and pooled on the bottom side of the corpse.

            <You can keep checking out his grandchildren for now, Mercure,> Kylo said and cut the signal.

            "Well," Mercure said, looking down at Vesper, "aren't you a sniveling coward after all?"

            "No....." Vesper whispered hoarsely. "But... if... I... _die_... I can't... _protect_... my...."

            "I'd stay and chat," Mercure said, standing, "but I've got a call from _Rey_ and I don't think you'd like me to take it here."

            "No...."

            "By the way," Mercure said as he got up, "your granddaughter Sarai is lovely. Very _tall_. Have her brought to me."

            "Yes...." Vesper wheezed. "Am I..." He coughed up blood. "....a terrible grandfather?"

            "Yes," Mercure said, and left.

 

***

 

_Leia_

            They'd moved her in the night. They must've had a stunner hidden somewhere with the surveillance gear, because one moment she was lying awake in bed, pretending to sleep while listening for Poe to come. The next she was in this bare metal cell with a constant background hum that made her think she was aboard a ship. Probably _Relentless_ given how the lights had flickered about half an hour ago.

            Maybe. Without the Star Destroyer clock, she had no way to tell time. She never thought she'd miss it.

            She never thought she'd miss the Tarkin portrait, either, but staring at that long-dead man and hating him was better than staring at her long-lost cousin from Naboo. The pretty redhead with haunted eyes stood silent and rigid on the far side of the cell, lightsaber flickering red.

            "Marie...." Leia began.

            "Moira Ren. My name is Moira Ren."

            "You don't sound so sure."

            "Silence, _scum_."

            "Well, that's just rude," Leia said, but her heart wasn't in it. She decided on staring at the wall.

            A long time later, Marie/Moira perked up with a strange mix of eagerness and desire and fear. Leia felt the ripple in the Force a moment later. Some familiar presences -- and others unfamiliar, too...

            The door hissed open and Rey stalked in. She was wearing one of her gorgeous grey gowns (Diarenti?), but she'd hacked off much of the skirt with her lightsaber to get better freedom of movement.

            Leia forced herself to look at Rey's face. She could see hatred, sorrow, disgust, _embarrassment_....

            "Poe escaped," Leia said.

            "Finn didn't."

            "Ah." Leia closed her eyes for a few seconds, because the universe was honestly getting to be too much, and then opened them again to take another look at Rey's face. " _You_ killed him."

            " _You_ killed him! With your foolish, self-indulgent defiance, your suicidal _resistance_ to the way things _have_ to be!" Rey paced, seething, not meeting Leia's eyes. "I keep trying to _save_ lives, to _end_ this war, but your continued _existence_ inspires _stupidity_."

            _Finally_ , Leia thought, _they'll kill me_. Instead Rey took an unexpected direction: "We need you to be _helpful_ for a change, dear mother-in-law. After _Falcon_ 's escape, rumors are already spreading through the Senate...."

            "So you might lose the vote?"

            "And if we _do_?" Rey spat. "Imagine the _embarrassment_ for us, the foolish _hope_ among your allies, the renewed onslaught of futile, _suicidal_ gestures, the extreme measures you'll _provoke_ us to!"  
            "Like cutting your friend's head off?"

            " _SILENCE_!"

            The Force slammed Leia against the metal wall. She'd been only six inches away but it still felt like falling off the roof. She heard Marie/Moira whimper and realized she'd gotten slammed as well. And there was something strange about the power that had crashed into her, something even younger and wilder and more blind than Rey....

            "The babies," Leia rasped. "They've _awakened_ , Rey, and they're so _afraid_...."

            "And whose fault is _that_?" Rey shrieked, tears in her eyes now. "I try, I _try_ to make a safe and peaceful universe for my children, for _your grandchildren_ , but you keep _forcing_ me to..."

            "No one can force you to do anything," Leia said. "There's always a choice."

            "Really?" Rey snarled, drying her eyes. "Let's test that proposition, shall we?" She turned to Moira, still picking herself up off the floor. "We're taking her out."

            "Is this the part where you kill me?" Leia said as Moira, limping, yanked her to her feet and shoved her towards the door.

            "No," Rey said, pointing down the detention block corridor. "This is the part where _you_ kill _them_."

            Leia couldn't tell what Rey was talking about, until Moira shoved her out the cell door so she could see the shaven-headed prisoners lined up along the corridor. It took her another moment to recognize them as her people captured on Crait.

            "You promised you'd spare them," Leia said, choking down her panic

            "As long as they cooperated," Rey said, who seemed to be fighting off panic herself. "You're one of the prisoners. _You're_ not cooperating. So all your lives are forfeit. Kindjal!"

            Three more Knights of Ren were here, Leia realized, unmasked. She didn't recognize the tall, dark girl who stepped forward, who must be Kindjal. But she recognized Wedge's kid -- boy or girl, she forgot -- and the gentle giant from Khopesh, whatever his name was.

            "My lady," Kindjal said, bowing.

            "Bring them before Leia one by one. Let her see their faces and speak their names."

            Kindjal dragged one of the older male prisoners forward. Leia didn't recognize him. He must've seen the confusion in her eyes because he smiled bitterly and said, "Imagine me with grey hair and a beard."

            "Cal?" she gasped. "Caluan Ematt? What have they...."

            "It's not what _we've_ done to him," Rey said, handing Leia a blaster. "It's what you _will_ do."

            "This is insane," Leia mumbled, even as she instinctively took the pistol. "You're insane. I'll never...."

            "Kill him yourself or I'll ensure that he dies slowly," Rey said. "While you watch."

            "You _couldn't_..."

            "To save lives? To protect my babies? I will do _anything_."

            "I don't believe you."

            "Fine. Maybe you're right. Maybe _I_ can't." Rey turned to the tall girl. "Kindjal? Vaderize him."

            Kindjal's lightsaber flashed in a wide arc around Ematt's body and he fell to the deck plates, screaming, with both legs and one arm gone.

            "NO!" Leia howled and fired her blaster straight at Kindjal's face. The girl's saber deflected it effortlessly, right into the back of Ematt's head.

            Rey glared at Kindjal. " _She_ was supposed to have to do that."

            "I thought we were being merciful," Kindjal drawled.

            "Not when mercy costs more lives in the long run. Bring the next."

            Kindjal shrugged and grabbed the next prisoner in line, a young man whose face was unrecognizable under dark, swollen bruises....

            "Wait," Leia gasped. "Wait, wait, you haven't even said what you _want_."

            "You'll speak before the Senate, reading words of _our_ choosing so you can't slip in coded messages," Rey said. "You'll _order_ the Resistance to surrender. _Exhort_ the Senate to acclaim Kylo as Emperor. _Beg_ them to take the peace deal on the table because it's the best they'll ever get and the alternative is not liberty, but death. Tell them that they have _no hope_."

            "I... I can't...."

            "As you wish." She turned to the young prisoner. "What's your name, boy?"

            "Don't..." The boy's words were barely intelligible through his swollen lips. "Don't give them anything, General Lei..."

            "He's Corporal Stephen Santos," Wedge's boy snapped. "Get it over with."

            Rey nodded to Kindjal. "Vaderize him."

            Kindjal shook her head, shrugged, and slashed. The boy fell to the deck with a sob, his thighs now smoldering stumps. Leia threw aside the blaster and threw herself to her knees at his side but he was already gone. And she could hear her grandchildren _screaming_ from Rey's womb.

            "Next!" Rey said.

            "No," Leia heard herself croak. "I'll do it. You win."

            Rey didn't look happy at all.


	6. Ghosts and Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, my friends....

_Rey_

         Rey woke alone in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

         For a moment she couldn't remember how she'd got there. Had Master Luke completed her training after all? Had they rejoined his sister Leia and the Resistance? Brought down the cruel First Order, saved the Republic, and restored the Jedi Order?

         No. No, she had dreamed all that. Again.

         In reality, she remembered, she had killed Luke, broken Leia to her will, and restored the Empire. The Jedi Temple was once more, as it had been under Palpatine, the Imperial Palace.

         Her palace. Hers and Kylo Ren's.

         Except he'd left two weeks ago and stopping sleeping beside her a few days before that. "Your nightmares are getting worse," he'd said, looking at her warily as he kicked aside smashed furniture, clearing a path to the overturned chest of drawers so he could extract some clean clothes from the wreckage. "Get a handle on it."

         "They're not _my_ nightmares," she'd protested, "it's the _babies_. I...."

         "Then get _them_ under control or I'm sleeping somewhere else," he'd growled. "I don't want to wake up choking to death -- if I wake up at all."  
         "Kylo..."

         And he'd gone. And her nightmares had gotten better. A little.

         When she opened her eyes, she could see a only few chairs were overturned, and the mirror was cracked, of course. She didn't understand why the stormtroopers kept bringing her a new mirror every night. Apparently their rapidly evolving religion put a high value on seeing one's own face and made owning a mirror a mark of status.

         At least the stormtroopers loved her.

         She slipped out of bed and dressed, quickly and plainly in a tunic and trousers. The outfit may have cost more than everything she'd owned back on Jakku all put together, but it at least gave her freedom of movement. It reminded her a little of the clothes that Leia had given her when she went to search for Luke, which reminded her of Luke withering in her psychic grasp and of Leia, hollow-eyed, reading her statement of surrender to the Senate.

         But Luke's death and Leia's surrender had ended the war, had snuffed out false hope, had brought the galaxy, however ambivalently, into the warm embrace of the new Empire....

         "Moira?" she said, opening the door. Her handmaiden lay in a black lump across the threshold, guarding the only way in. Or out.

         "Mmmmm, mistress?" Moira mumbled, sounding sleepy and scared at the same time.

         "Nothing's wrong," Rey said. "Just time to get up."

         Moira lifted her head, brushed masses of red curls out of her face, and looked at the golden Super Star Destroyer on the wall whose bow pointed towards the time. "My lady, it's not even four am...."

         "Hocht will be up," Rey said. "I'm not sure he ever sleeps."

         "Hocht's on Chandrila, my lady, doing his, ah, ducal duties."

         "He got back last night," Rey said, nudging Moira in the side with her toe. "Get up."

         "Yes, mistress," Moira grumbled, rising and trying to smooth her hair out with her fingers. "Ah, my lady, could I have a few minutes to...."

         "It'll take you half a hour to brush that out," Rey snapped, then softened. "So sit there and I'll do it." She grabbed a hairbrush (silver inlaid with sapphires, Rylothian, ca. 300 years old).

         "Thank you, my lady."  
         "I'm just saving us both time, as Mercure would say." Moira laughed. "He likes you, you know." Moira fell silent. "Moira?"

         "It's irrelevant," Moira said flatly. "We'll both make political marriages."

         "Well, yes," Rey said, fumbling the hairbrush. "Sorry but that's, you know, the way it has to be. We all must make some sacrifices for the greater good."

         "Of course. It's just...ah well."

         "What?" Rey asked as she picked up the brush again.

         "When does the sacrifice _stop_ and the good begin?"

         "I -- it's not that simple. We have to keep sacrificing to ensure the, ah, to ensure....posterity....stuff."

         "I know," Moira said, bowing her head to be brushed. "Just...just please don't marry me off to _Hux_."

         "All right," Rey said. "I'm not sure we want _him_ to breed at all....Have the others told you when they'd be back?"

         "The other knights? No, my lady -- _ow_."

         "Sorry," Rey said. "I'll be gentle. Do you wish you had gone with them?"  
         A thoughtful pause. Then: "No, my lady. Whatever this mission is, Sobek's not comfortable with it."

         "And he's usually the first one to have qualms, isn't he?" Rey asked, using her fingers to pick apart a tangle of red hair. "The canary in the ethical coal mine."

         "Yes, my lady." Another pause. "When we -- at Luke's temple, that last night, Sobek wouldn't fight for either side."

         Now _that_ was unexpected. "Then why did he come with you at all?"

         "The same reason you and I did, my lady," Moira said with a bitter laugh. "He loves Ben Solo."

 

***

 

         "Your Imperial Majesty," Hocht said, standing up from his desk to bow to Rey. "Duchess." Another, shallower bow to Moira. "An unexpected honor."

         "Unexpected?" Rey asked, sitting in one of the simple but elegant antique chairs that Hocht's decorators seemed to favor. Moira remained standing behind her. "There's very little you don't expect."

         "Well, my lady," Hocht said, sitting back down, "I obviously knew the moment you left your chambers, but I didn't immediately know _where_ you were going."

         "Who else is up?"

         "Well, Grand Admiral Vesper hasn't been sleeping too well, either, not since Visshi," Hocht said, pouring two small cups of tea. "But yes, Your Majesty, given the hour, my recent return from Chandrila, and our ongoing discussions about -- ahem -- sensitive matters, my working hypothesis was indeed that you were coming to see me."

         "So my visit was unexpected except in all the senses that you, in fact, expected it," Rey said, accepting a cup of tea.

         "As always, Your Majesty cuts through pretense to the truth," Hocht said, bowing. "A commendable quality. I should have said 'an _unscheduled_ pleasure.'"

         "How was Chandrila?"

         Hocht took a thoughtful sip of tea. "Better than I _expected_ , which is not saying too much. Leia Organa's public surrender took the fight out of many Republic dead-enders," he said at last. "And I have some of my best young people on Chandrila, trying to implement your principles of mercy. No public executions, very few detention camps, minimal interference in local self-governance. Problematic people disappear, of course, but they generally show up again a few days later, no worse for wear except for, shall we say, a new appreciation for the wisdom of cooperation."

         Another sip of tea. "I sincerely believe this new approach of yours is superior to the Tarkin Doctrine, with its tendency to manufacture martyrs," Hocht said. "I dare say our reformed Empire will long outlast Palpatine's."

         Hocht looked at Rey closely. "Why do you shudder, my lady? Is this not what you wish?"

         "It is," Rey said hastily. "I have spoken to our mutual friend on your behalf."

         "Ah." Hocht put his tea down. "I am of course most grateful. And most anxious to hear her response."

         "Moira," Rey said, "leave us."

         "My lady?" Moira protested predictably. "I have not left your side since..."

         "Leave us. This is a private matter."

         "As you wish," Moira said, clearly not understanding. She didn't leave.

         "And if I am not safe in the office of my own Marshal of Discipline, then there is no loyalty left anywhere," Rey said. "Go."

         Moira left, with an anxious glance back at Rey and a suspicious one at Hocht.

         "That was thoughtful, Your Majesty," Hocht said when the door shut.

         "Kindjal Ren was... upset that you declined her marriage proposal so emphatically," Rey said. "But in the end she accepted your argument that the Marshal of Discipline must be independent of the Knights of Ren."

         "I would hate to upset her," Hocht said grimly.

         "Oh, no," Rey said, "not the crushing-tracheas kind of upset, I assure you."

         "I was not aware, my lady, that the Knights of Ren were capable of any other kind."

         "You'd be surprised," Rey said. She had certainly been.

 _Does he fear his old heart will fail because he can't keep up with me?_ Kindjal had asked, pitching her contralto voice even lower, which she no doubt intended to sound seductive. _Or does he fear that_ I _cannot match an older lover in technique? I assure you, Majesty, that what I lack in_ experience _, I can make up in....._

         _Wait a second_ , Rey had asked, _are you saying you're a virgin?_

         Kindjal Ren -- Knight of Ren, Grand Duchess of Byss, and Imperial Mistress of Assassins -- suddenly burst into tears.

         _I've never even_ kissed _a boy_ , Kindjal eventually managed to blubber, after Rey had given her every tissue in the room. _Even before Luke took us away, I'd never -- and then it wasn't allowed -- and then I thought it still wasn't allowed, except now Ben says that we have to, and now I don't know how to even start, and I'm so afraid that if I let anyone that close, they'll see through the haughty mask of Kindjal Ren to the mess I really am...._

         _What's your_ real _name?_ Rey had asked.

         _I'll never say that name again,_ Kindjal said, drawing herself up straight and icing over.

         "No," Rey said, realizing she'd fallen silent for a while and Hocht was watching her with a puzzled look, "I convinced her a young, less _experienced_ husband would be easier to dominate."

         "And more power to her, as long as it isn't over me," Hocht said. "Although I do pity Vesper's grandsons. More tea?"

 

***

 

         "And what about the rebels in the Nuri Sector, Admiral Vesper?" Rey asked, using the Force to rotate the holographic map of the galaxy shimmering above the conference table.

         "Not rebels so much as pirates, Your Majesty, as it turnsout," Vesper said, tugging at his mustache a little more nervously than he used to. He called up a series of ship schematics: "We had a bit of a false alarm, you see. The Mon Calamari cruisers they had turned out to be stolen surplus, not survivors from the Republic Navy as we'd thought."

         "The downside," Hocht said, "is there's still a Republic cruiser squadron unaccounted for. If they're not in Nuri, where are they?"

         "I'll send out another wave of probes once Nuri is secure," Vesper said. Operational arrows appeared on the map. "Task Force Saber will have -- _should_ be able to destroy the pirate fleet within two days." Another anxious tug. "Maybe three. I don't want to overpromise...."

         "And once the space threat's gone," Marshal Klimenti said, "you can hand the sector over to Army control? I'll have to free up a suitable general or promote one...."

         "Let's plan for a handover in four days from now," Vesper said. "Tentatively. If that meets with Her Majesty's approval?"

         All five of them turned to Rey, sitting at the head of the table with Kylo's throne empty by her side. It was Vesper and Klimenti, Hocht and Hux, plus the alarmingly intense young man who'd taken Silva's place, Vaughan Krupp, who just happened to be married to Vesper's daughter.

         "I have no desire to micromanage routine business," Rey said. "Just to be kept informed."

         "As you wish," Vesper and Klimenti said in chorus, bowing, but Hux said, "actually..."

         "Yes, Grand Marshal?" Rey said, trying not to sigh.

         "As long as we're on the topic of promotions, my Empress," Hux said, "I would suggest Marshal Klimenti give command of Nuri Sector to General Hydrik, who...."

         "I wasn't happy with his performance on Katyn," Klimenti interrupted.

         "They were Republic officers," Hux scoffed. "Dead-enders who'd kept fighting after Leia Organa's surrender. Surely you can't feel _sorry_ for them?"

         "Hydrik had accepted their surrender," Klimenti growled.

         "He made them into martyrs," Hocht added. "Unnecessarily. He didn't even let my people assess which of them were worth interrogating or turning."

         "My lady," Hux said, turning to Rey, "as Grand Marshal of the Empire, I must insist..."

         Rey silenced him with a wave of her hand. "Again, I will not micromanage my Marshals. Klimenti has my confidence and full authority in such internal Army matters."

         "But as _Grand Marshal_..."

         "As Grand Marshal, you should not micromanage, either."

         "But..."

         "Nor do the revised regulations for the Joint Chiefs permit it," she said relentlessly. "As Grand Marshal, you arbitrate disputes between departments and investigate incompetence. Since there is no dispute and no incompetence on the part of a fellow Marshal, this matter does not fall under your jurisdiction."

         Hux crossed his arms and frowned. The man was such a child. "If Lord Kylo...."

         _If Kylo was here, he'd have throttled you already_ , Rey thought. "The Emperor is kept well-informed of all my decisions in his absence," she said. _Assuming he ever reads my letters...._ "Is there any other business that requires my personal oversight?"

         "Repairs on _Relentless_ will be completed in two days," said Krupp. "An improvement over earlier estimates. I commend Captain Piett's performance."

         She waited for him to say more but he didn't. The curt Krupp was utterly unlike his predecessor Silva, whom she missed. It took him a moment to realize she was waiting and say: "I have no further business, Your Majesty."

         "Nor I," said Vesper.

         "Nor I," said Hocht.

         "I'm good, my lady," said Klimenti.

         "As am I, Empress," Hux said grudgingly. "Please convey my compliments to Duchess Moira and say I invite...."

         "A lovely thought, but not a topic for War Council," Rey said. "Which is hereby adjourned. I must meditate."

 

***

 

 _Don't trust your feelings_ , Mercure Ren had said before he left. _That's Jedi doubletalk. When did they ever let themselves feel anything? And with Sith stuff, like this, you can never trust it. Or yourself._

         The Sith holocron floated in mid-air in front of her, pouring nightmares of ancient atrocities into her mind. She floated with it, trying to keep herself calm and keep the babies calm and still pay attention. "It's okay," she told them, "Mama's here, Mama's just figuring out some stuff that should help us...."

         _There_. A Dark Side sorceress, eyes yellow from years of power and hate, caressing her swollen abdomen, singing to the child inside, connecting to it, life force to life force, _draining_ it to sustain her own.... _No. Not like that. No!_

         "No!" Rey screamed and the babies screamed inside her and the holocron clattered to the floor and then she was falling too.

         "Ow," Rey said, instinctively cradling her stomach. She wasn't showing, not this early, but she could feel them strongly. "You guys all right?" she asked, laughing weakly at herself, except they seemed to understand and pulsed back at her. She closed her eyes and wrapped herself around them in the Force, feeling their warmth...

         ... and something else, too. There were other children here, not just inside her but around her, in the Temple.

         She opened her eyes.

         Children in drab brown robes ran past her, laughing, followed by a ...what was it?... a small green _creature_ she almost mistook for another child except that it walked with a cane. "Run not so fast in the hallways of the Temple," it croaked, more amused than angry. "Slip and trip and fall on your little butts you will."

         She watched the children dash off down a corridor, followed by the ancient green creature. Only when they vanished, and the corridor with them, did she remember she was in a locked room.

         She could feel the children inside her reach out for the others who had vanished. Who had they been? Jedi trainees, she supposed from the drab robes, taken from their parents and conscripted into a monastic life with no family, no emotion, only duty and discipline and, sooner or later, death.....

         _No more_ , she thought. _The next generation raised in the Force will be raised by their own parents, free to love and marry, with privileges in proportion to their duties, their darkness in balance with the light._

         _Really_? asked a rebellious corner of her brain.

         _It's true_ , she told herself.

         "Help us," one of the Jedi children said, tears streaking his face. "Help. Please...."

         She had no idea of where the boy had come from, except the past, but she could feel his fear. So could the children inside her.

         "It's okay," she said, trying to sooth both him and them at once. "I'm here to help you."

         "No," he said, "you're not."

         Her lightsaber cut him down.

         She _screamed_ , her children _screamed_ , and she fell back scrabbling for her lightsaber. It ignited with the same blue blade that was slaughtering the Jedi children from the past. It was the same blue blade, she realized, just at a different time, which meant...

         She looked up at the ghost of Anakin Skywalker.

         "You're dead," she whispered.

         He snarled. " _You first_."

         His blade -- that would be hers -- swung low towards her stomach, as if to cut out what was in there, but she blocked it with her blade -- that had been his -- and forced him back.

         "No, no," she said, "it wasn't a threat, I mean, I'm from your future, from three decades after you died..."

         "Well," he raved, "from _my_ point of view, _your_ death comes _now_ , Jedi!"

         "That doesn't even make sense," she snapped, parrying desperately as he came at her again, "and I'm _not_ a Jedi..."

         "So you're Sith?"

         "I am _not Sith_!"

         "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy!"

         "I'm not...." She had to stop talking and save her breath to fight. He hammered at her like a madman, a madman with excellent lightsaber technique, and it took all her energy just to defend.

         "Oh this is _stupid_ ," she said and slammed him against the wall with the Force. He bounced off and fell on the floor with a very unghostly _thump_ and his lightsaber, deactivated, rolled away.

         "Such power... how... " he gasped, then stared at her belly with wide eyes. "You're _pregnant_?"

         "Yes, with your _great-grandchildren_ , you enormous idiot, I'm _married_ to your _grandson_ Kylo -- Ben!"

         "Named a-after Ben Kenobi?"

         "Probably," she said, since an honest _I have no idea_ probably wouldn't have helped the situation.

         "So my child _lived_?" Anakin said, picking himself up from the floor, lightsaber forgotten. "Padmé _lived_?"

         "No, yes, wait!" she said as he advanced on her, eyes wild. "Your children lived. Luke and Leia. Twins."

         "Where are they? Are they okay?"

         "Ahhhhhhh...." Rey really didn't want to answer that one. "But Padmé died. I'm sorry."

         "No," Anakin said feebly, falling to his knees. "No. Not all for nothing. No no no no no...."

         "You have -- you'll have your children, Anakin...."

         " _Children_?" He tore at his hair. "I can't have _children_ , I've _slaughtered_ children, all the little children, how can I be trusted with a child..."

         "You did what?" she asked. _No, the vision of him cutting down a Jedi child, that had to have been_ symbolic _, he couldn't have actually_...

         "I had to do it," Anakin rasped. "Had to. Palpatine made me and it wasn't my fault!"

         "Made you..."

         "Made me kill them all, every one of them, elders to younglings, Force help me but they had it _coming_ , don't you see? Blood on my hands, blood everywhere, but they had _crushed_ the Sith, _persecuted_ them, _hounded_ them into hiding, the only way to end the cycle of vengeance was to end _them_! Their very _existence_ was an invitation to more war!"

         "You're not making sense...." she said, backing away.

         "You're lying," he said. "I make perfect sense. You're just turning against me because you think I'm a deranged and murderous monster, just like the Jedi Council, just like Padmé, I'll _choke_ the traitor bitch until she learns her...."

         "No," Rey said. She cut his head off.

         His lightsaber -- which would be hers -- clattered to the floor, then vanished with the rest of him.

         Rey was alone in the sealed room again, her lightsaber out, her clothes soaked with sweat, her babies wailing inside of her.

         "It's okay," she said, turning in a circle with her saber still lit, "Mama just had a bad dream, or a vision, or something...."

         "This place is full of shadows," Luke said.

         " _Not you_!" She screamed and slashed at him. Her lightsaber went right through.

         "That won't affect me," Luke Skywalker said mildly. "I'm not alive. I'm not even a proper ghost. A ghost of a ghost, perhaps. An echo."

         "It worked fine on Anakin," she hissed, hacking uselessly at Luke.

         "How? Did you annoy him to death?" Luke asked, flinching. "I just -- I -- _listen_ \-- Rey, please _stop that_."

         She stopped trying to kill the ghost of the man she'd already killed and stood there panting. "Why... isn’t ... it... _working_?"

         "I know I'm not here. The shade of Anakin you saw may not have known that," Luke said, shrugging. "So power of suggestion? I'm not sure. I don't think I'm fully _sentient_ , to be honest, just a combination of our connection, your memories, your powers, your children's powers, the energies in this place."

         "So you're not really Luke Skywalker?"

         "I don't know. Are you really Rey?"

         "Of course I... Oh." She suddenly felt very small. "I -- I mean -- my _means_ have changed, but my _ends_ are still the same. I still want peace and justice."

         "Rey, there are some means that corrupt any ends they can achieve," Luke said. "There are some ends you cannot reach by certain means. Different roads lead to different destinations."

         "Typical Jedi doubletalk. Are you saying that if I hadn't killed you, _old man_ , if I had spurned Ben's offer, slapped away his hand, broken his heart, and left him alone and unguided to lash out at the galaxy, we'd all have ended up on a different road to a happier place? _Really._ "

         "Perhaps." Luke shrugged. "We'll never know."

         She broke down crying.

         Rey cried and her babies cried with her, not knowing anything but that their world was sad. It took her a while to realize that at some point Luke had put his arms around her and let her bury her face in his chest. He felt strangely solid for a ghost. Also smelled a little more like unwashed old man than she'd expected.

         "How can you bear to touch me?" she whispered, still sobbing. "I have done -- ohhh -- I have done such terrible things, to _you_ , to _Leia_ , to _Moira,_ to the _prisoners_...."

         "And you're complicit in atrocities across the galaxy," he said, patting her on the back.

         "That isn't helpful!"

         "But it's true."

         "So it's too late for me?" she asked, choking back her tears. "And don't tell me that 'it's never too late' because I'll know you're lying."

         "It's too late to undo what you have done in the past," Luke said. "But you can always do better in the future -- or worse."

         " _W-worse_??"  
         "There are depths to which you have not sunk, Rey," he told her, looking her in the eye. "There are choices you have not yet made, ones that could take you even deeper into darkness or turn you back up towards the light."

         "What choices? Don't be cryptic, dammit."

         "It will be hard, crushingly hard," Luke told her, "but you can be redeemed."

         "How?" she begged, but he had vanished.

 

***

 

         "No more nightmares," Rey told herself as she lay in bed that night, looking at her latest mirror. "No more visions."

         Sleep didn't come.

         She tried to relax by remembering her home in a wrecked walker on Jakku, but the amount of detail she'd forgotten just made her anxious. She tried reciting all her fleets and armies with the names of their commanders, but that just made her think about what they were doing.

         "Moira?" she said aloud. There was no answer.

         Rey got up, padded to the door, and opened it. "There you are," she told the lump on the threshold, which made her feel silly at once, because that was where Moira always was.

         "Isss wuninda munning," Moira mumbled. "E'n Hochta sleep."

         " _I_ can't sleep," Rey said. "It's too quiet without Kylo. Come sleep in here."

         Moira opened an eye. "With you?" There was a sudden, pathetic eagerness to the girl's tone that Rey didn't like.

         "Even dogs get to sleep on the bed sometimes," Rey said. She turned and walked toward the bed without looking back. After a few seconds, she heard Moira get up and follow. Rey slipped under the covers. Moira lay down on top of them, at the foot of the bed.

         Rey lay still a moment and listened to Moira's breathing, fast and ragged. The warmth of another body was tempting after all those nights alone. Rey wriggled down the bed until her bare feet touched the girl's back. Moira stopped breathing.

         "Moira? Are you all right?" Rey drew up her feet...

         "No, you can put your feet on me," Moira said with a catch in her voice. "Please put your feet on me, mistress."

         "All right..." Rey gently put her feet back on Moira's back. She could feel the girl's heart pounding. Her own heart started to race.

         "Moira...."

         "Yes, mistress?"

         "You can come under the covers with me."

         A pause. Then: "A dog sleeps on top of the covers, mistress."

         "You're not a dog."

         Another pause. Then: "If you say so, mistress."

         Moira crawled over the covers and slipped under them next to Rey. The warmth of her was overwhelming, the pounding of her heart contagious, the softness of her tantalizingly within reach.

         "Come closer," Rey said, her voice surprisingly husky.

         "Y-yesss....."

         Moira inched closer. Rey pulled her into her arms and kissed her. On the lips. _Oh_ , Rey thought, _I should've realized that's where I was going with this_ , but she didn't stop kissing. _Oh_.

         Moira shivered and pulled away and let out a kind of whimpering whine that sounded awfully like an actual dog.

         "Moira, are you...."

         "N-not worthy," Moira whined. "Not worthy of the mistress's lips. Not worthy of her blade. T-touch me with your _feet_ , your _teeth_ , your _fists_ , _crush_ me underfoot so I can't breathe...."

         "Marie...." Rey said, dismay driving out arousal.

         "N-not Marie. _Moira_. Marie is dead and Moira is a monster, miserable monster, unworthy unworthy unworthy to lie in the master's bed, unworthy to stain the mistress's saber with her filthy entrails...."

         " _Marie_ ," Rey sobbed and hugged her. "What have I done to you?"

         They lay there, holding each other and crying, until they fell asleep.

 

***

 

         "They're back," Rey muttered darkly.

         "Kylo and the others?" Moira/Marie asked hopefully.

         "No. Nothing. Nevermind." Rey tried not to look at Commander D'Acy and Lieutenant Connix, both in Resistance uniform, unbruised, with hair. In the wide, empty hallways of the Jedi Temple turned Imperial Palace, there was plenty of room to go around, even rows of massive pillars to hide behind, but Rey forced herself to stand her ground. The dead rebels came closer, chatting happily, and at last passed through her before vanishing.

         "My lady?"

         "Just a memory," Rey said. "Not real." She started walking again. Where were they going? To see Luke? No, he was dead, he came and went as he pleased. Hocht, then? Hocht's company was strangely comforting, but she didn't think that was it either, and she had a moment of doubt he was even here on Coruscant today. Her dreams and visions and constant state of dread were all bleeding into one another in a way that made it hard to remember what was real or whether she was awake.

         She stopped.

         "My lady?"

         "Marie, where were we going?"

         "You didn't say, mistr--my lady."

         Rey barked out a laugh. "Well, if we don't know where we're going, then any destination will do, won't it?"

         "I suppose, my lady."

         They wandered the hallways aimlessly for another hour, through the labyrinth of passages the Jedi had carved out of a mountain. At last they came to a dead end, a natural cavern that had been walled off but recently unsealed, judging by the broken bricks and a discarded sonic cutter.

         "Mercure was here," Marie said tenderly, picking up the cutter and running her fingers along the dusty handle.

         "This is...." Rey made out a regular shape amidst the shadows, its right angles stark against the natural curves of the cavern. It was a sarcophagus, she saw, with an inscription carved, no, _burned_ into the lid by lightsaber. She couldn't read the language.

         "This is a tomb," she whispered, shivering. "A _Sith_ tomb...."

         "Layers upon layers, my dear, cycle after cycle," a warm but aristocratic voice said from the shadows. She looked round wildly for the source but could see no one.

         "My lady? Is something..."

         "The Sith build upon a place of power, the Jedi kick them out and build over them, the Sith strike back and build over that, the Jedi return and build over in their turn," said a grey-haired man in elegant senatorial robes, sitting down casually on the edge of the sarcophagus.

         "Even when one side thinks it has wiped out the other," he continued, "the victors contain the seeds of their own destruction and so the cycle starts again. Consider the whole unhappy history of the Skywalker family, for example." A sudden grimace. "It's really _very annoying_."

         " _Palpatine_?" Rey said.

         "Oh, I don't think so," Marie said, looking at the tomb without seeing the man sitting on it. "This sarcophagus is far too old, and anyway his body was burned up with the second Death Star. He has no resting place."

         "Very good." Palpatine chuckled, just a hint of bitterness beneath the indulgent-uncle warmth. "No rest for the wicked, forever. Do compliment your handmaiden for me, Rey dear, as I'm afraid she cannot hear me herself."

         "Palpatine says you're right," Rey muttered.

         "Pardon?" Marie said, staring at her, then looking around. "Oh. Oh dear. Is he..."

         "I see him sitting right there," Rey said, pointing. Marie looked but clearly didn't see.

         "With those children inside you, child, you're really quite perceptive," Palpatine said. "I despise _most_ children, of course, so weak and useless and pathetic, but yours and Kylo's are already veritable bonfires blazing in the Force. It's a wonder they haven't burned you up already. Perhaps that's why neither Sith nor Jedi ever tried a breeding program, to my knowledge? You really shouldn't be so quick to try things your elders dared not do."

         "Palpatine," Rey said wearily, "what do you want?"

         "Noooo," he said, smirking, "what do _you_ want? I'm just an echo of your mind, my dear, colliding and combining with the echoes bouncing eternally around these hallowed walls. A pathetic parody of the immortality I once sought."

         "A fitting punishment for a monster," Rey snapped.

         "And you, young monstress, will find the Imperial throne is punishment enough," Palpatine spat back.

         "I don't want it."

         "Don't you?" Palpatine chuckled. "In accordance with the Rule of Two, it is Kylo's role to have the power and yours to crave it. Have you not already usurped his place at War Council?"

         "I run the council in his absence, that's all."

         "You'll find his absences more and more frequent, my dear. Like his grandfather, Kylo Ren has little patience for meetings and memoranda and all the details of governing." A theatrical sigh. "It's too bad, my dear. Your young man would make a passable Vader, but you'd be a better _me_."

         "I'd rather die."

         "If you would, you will," he sneered. "Foolish, ambivalent, weak-willed girl. Your one chance to survive is to _gain power_. And does your power not grow as your children grow inside you? I would overthrow your master as soon as he returns, my dear, rather than wait for your _twins_ " -- he pronounced the word like an obscenity -- "to be born so he can turn them against you in classic Sith fashion." He smiled. "I wonder which of your children will kill the other and rule?"

         "My children will not turn against me or one other," Rey said, hating the quaver in her voice, "and we are not Sith."

         "So you say, my dear. So. You. _Say_."

         "We're leaving," Rey told Marie, turning for the exit. "Let the past die."

         "You can turn your back on me, but never on what you have become," Palpatine called after her. "Do you think you can escape your destiny?"

         "I know I can _try_ ," she said, without looking back.

         "Look at me when I'm talking to you, child!" rasped the voice behind her, suddenly sounding old and harsh. "I am the Emperor! I am the last Lord of the Sith!"

         "You _were_." She kept walking.  
         "Rey! Come back this instant!"

         "No."

         " _Rey_! Don't leave me here _alone_!"

         "Good-bye, Palpatine."

         " _Please_ , wait...."

         "Good-bye." After that, Rey said nothing until she and Moira were back in the Jedi-built hallways and she could no longer hear Palpatine's wordless whining.

         "We should seal that place back up," Rey said. "Forever."

 

***

 

         "They're back," Rey gasped as her children leapt inside her.

         "Who, Majesty?" Hocht said.

         "Ghosts," Marie muttered grimly, looking around the Marshal's sparsely furnished office.

         "No, Ben," Rey said, knocking over her chair in her haste to get up. "And the others."

         " _Oh._ Excuse us," Marie said, standing too.

         "That's quite all right," Hocht said, rising and bowing. "If you'll excuse me, I think it wisest to avoid Duchess Kindjal for..."

         "Sure," Rey said and took off running.

         "Where are we going?" Marie gasped a few breathless minutes later. "The main hangar is that way."

         "I know where they're going," Rey said. "Deeper in the Temple."

         They rushed past a couple of stormtrooper patrols -- "HAIL REY! ORPHAN EMPRESS!" -- and knocked over a junior staff officer -- "Sorry! Don't choke me!" -- and then they were at a checkpoint. The small army of heavily stormtroopers didn't stop them, just knelt and opened the outer gate as they recited their Hail-Rey.

         "Why such heavy defenses _inside_ the Palace?" Rey asked as they waited for the blast door to open enough to fit through. "I've never seen security like this, not even in Hocht's department."

         "I don't know, my lady, but...."

         Rey slipped through the blast door -- Marie, taller, followed a moment later -- and found herself surrounded by even more kneeling stormtroopers. They had a pair of heavy repeating blasters on tripods, pointing away down the corridor.

         "I don't think all this is so much to keep people _out_ ," Marie said as they rushed on. "I think it's to keep something _in_."

         "But what...." Rey was distracted as they passed an open door. The room inside was set up as a barracks, with rows of bunkbeds, but the beds were all too short for stormtroopers. How could younglings' quarters have survived intact from half a century ago? It didn't make sense.

         "Those beds," Rey realized with dawning horror, "those sheets, they looked like they were just made up this morning...."

         Then they burst onto a balcony and saw the children.

         _Oh no_.

         They were overlooking one of the open spaces you sometimes stumbled upon inside the Palace, a great hall of ancient stone newly adorned with the black and red of R.R.R. First Order banners. A dozen dazed children of various ages and sizes wandered around, staring up at everything, as a frazzled Mercure Ren, black and red First Order duffle bag in hand, tried to corral them into a group.

         "Come _on_ , kids," he said, using the Force to pull back a little girl who had started literally climbing the walls. "I'm glad to get off the ship too, but you have to keep it together just a little longer until the Emp...."

         "Biggs!" Marie shouted.

         Mercure and all the kids looked up. "Marie?"

         "You're back!" Marie shouted happily, wiping away tears.

         "I'm back," Mercure said. "You're, uh, with the Empress. Of course. Hi there."

         "Hi," Rey said.

         "It's Lady Rey!" shrieked one of the children, pointing, and went down on his knees. The rest knelt swiftly.

         "Hail Rey, Orphan Empress," the children recited, or at least the older children did -- none of them could be over twelve -- while the younger children mumbled more or less in synch. "The Force is with thee...."

         "Please stop that," Rey muttered. "How do we get down?"

         "Stairs. Here," Marie said, already starting down them.

         "...Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb..."

         "What's going on, Marie?" Rey asked as they ran down the stairs.

         "I don't know!"

         "Holy Rey, Mother of Emperors, intercede for your servants with your dread lord Kylo Ren..."

         They reached the bottom and nearly ran over Mercure coming to meet them.

         "...now and at the hour of hour death."

         "We had that Sith tomb back sealed up," Marie said breathlessly. "Rey saw Palpatine."

         "Wait, what?" he said.

         "It's not important. What's going on here?" Rey asked. "Who are these children?"  
         "Force sensitives, of course," Mercure said. "Duh. What do you think the three of us were doing for the last two weeks, collecting flowers?"

         Marie snorted a laugh. Rey glared at her. "Sorry, my lady. He's just funny."

         "Glad someone's amused...." Mercure muttered.

         "This isn't funny," Rey snapped. "You've brought them here for training?"

         "Yes."

         "Where are their parents?"

         "Their parents are fine. Well, except the couple Kylo killed."

         "You've _stolen_ them from their families?"

         "We're the government now, Rey, it's called _conscription_."

         Rey looked around wildly at the kneeling, silent children, watching her intently. "Please, children, please, get up." The youngest, maybe three, popped up at once and toddled off -- she'd already been squirming -- but the others waited warily. "No, really, please." They stood but looked suspicious.

         "This..." Rey yanked her own hair in frustration. "What you're doing is not right."

         "Gee," Mercure said, "you finally figured that one out? After all the galaxy-conquering and Senate-packing and prisoner-executing and stuff?"

         "But this is different," Rey said shrilly. "This -- this is epeating the worst crime of the Jedi Order!"

         "News flash," Mercure said. "Not sure how you've not figured this out yet, but the worst thing the Jedi Order ever did is just another Tuesday for the Knights of Ren."

         "No, no," Rey said, looking around again. A little boy, maybe age six, was silently crying. She knelt down and wiped his tears with the sleeve of her ridiculously expensive dress. "It's going to be all right," she said.

         "No," the child said. "I'm not a baby, I'm _six_ , I know things aren't going to be right ever."

         Rey hugged him. He went rigid, then relaxed into her arms and started crying again.

         "There, there," she said weakly. "Have you -- have you _fed_ them?"

         "Of course we've fed them," a deep voice said from behind her. "We're not _monsters_."

         "Sobek!" Mercure called, relieved. "Help me get these kids under control."

         "Help me with mine," Sobek shot back. Rey turned to see the knight had one small child perched on his broad shoulders. The girl was apparently using Sobek's nose as a grip -- that had to hurt -- while she leaned backwards to grab at something slung across the big man's back. "Don't mess with that, kid..."

         Another, larger child was holding Sobek's hand. Rey counted nine others following behind, all holding hands with the children before and after them in line. The last and largest, a dark-haired, pale-skinned boy who might have been 14, was holding Sobek's golden staff weapon as if on parade.

         "Look at you," Mercure said, standing on tiptoe to pry small fingers away from Sobek's nose ("thanks, Biggs"). "You're the damned Pied Piper."

         "I'm feeling pretty damned, all right," Sobek muttered, setting the child down. She started to cry at once. "Hush, baby, it's okay. Biggs, how'd you get here ahead of me?"

         "Took the freight elevator."

         "There's an _elevator_? Dang."

         A little girl detached from Sobek's line and walked to the teenager holding the golden glaive. "My turn," she said, reaching.

         "You wish," the teen sneered. "You'd just drop it, _runt_."

         "Please," Sobek sighed, "we worked this out already, everybody's going to get a turn..."

         "Hey!" one of the newcomer kids shouted, pointing at Rey. "It's Lady Rey!" In a moment they were all down on their knees, even the ones who'd arrived earlier with Mercure, intoning, "Hail Rey, Orphan Empress...."

         "Please stop that," Rey said, the sobbing six-year-old still clinging to her. "Dammit, Sobek, I just got them to stand up..." She freed one arm to wave at them to get back up. Some did. Some stayed on their knees and kept reciting.

         "....blessed is the fruit of thy womb...."

         "Is this going to keep happening every time?" Rey groaned, patting the little boy on the back as he cried quietly.    A horrible thought struck her. "Is Kindjal bringing in another dozen?"

         "Ten, I think," Mercure said. "And Kylo has nine. They were waiting for us to finish unloading ours, though, that auxiliary hangar upstairs is pretty cramped."

         "....and blessed is the fruit of your womb...."

         "Well," she said, putting the boy down, "those big wings on the _Upsilon_ shuttles are..."

         "No," Mercure said, "we were flying Infiltrators, third-generation stealth ships...."

         "Ooh, really?" Rey asked eagerly, then shook her head. "No, that's not important, what's important is the children."

         "...intercede for us..."

         "We're not 'portant," muttered one of the little ones. "We're not."

         "... now and at the hour of our death."

         "Yes you are," Rey said. "The most important thing in the universe."

         "Hey," one of Sobek's kids said shrilly, going through Mercure's Sith duffle, "lookit!"

         "Hey hey hey," Mercure said, running over, "don't mess with...."

         "The little one has a guitar too!" the kid continued, pulling one out triumphantly. It was a sleek black electric model, basically a fretboard with a speaker attached.

         "Don't touch that," Mercure said, grabbing it. "And I'm not 'little'."

         "Don't feel bad," another kid said. "She just means little compared to Sobek. Everyone's little compared to Uncle Sobek."

         "'Uncle'?" Rey, Mercure, and Marie all said at once.

         "I dunno," the big guy said, "I thought it would put them more at ease?" He unslung the thing across his back -- it _was_ a guitar, a more traditional one than Mercure's, with an actual body. "Like playing music."

         "Play together!" a kid said, pointing at Sobek's guitar and then Mercure's. "Play together!"

         "Yeah!" another kid shouted, and soon even the ones who'd been hail-Reying took up the chorus: "Play together! Play together!"

         "Ah, geez," Mercure muttered. "I've already played for them for _hours_."

         "Please, Biggs," Marie said, "play with him again. It's been too long."

         "Fine," Mercure said. "Just 'cause _you_ asked."

         "Yay!" shouted several kids at once. The teenager with the glaive just rolled his eyes.

         "I bet our guy's better than your guy," one of Mercure's kids told one of Ren's."

         "Is not!"

         "Is too!" Mercure snapped, then looked sheepish as Marie laughed and Sobek arched an eyebrow. "Sorry, Sobek."

         "S'okay," Sobek said, tuning his guitar -- the children all silent at the first twang -- "you probably are a better musician than me."

         "You'd be great if you just had proper instruments," Mercure said, adjusting a dial on his electric fretboard. "I don't believe you still use those ridiculous manual strings."

         "I like the feel of it," Sobek said, strumming. "And, hey, Abel?"

         "Yeah?" said the teenager clutching the golden glaive.

         "Give that thing to Eroine, it's her turn."

         "She'll drop it and scratch the gold again," the boy, Abel, grumbled even as he handed it over to the girl, who was bouncing up and down with eagerness. "Geez, settle down."

         "It's just spray paint," Sobek said. "Honestly I need to painr it black again for night missions...." He hit a sour note and winced. "Dang."

         "Manual strings, man," Mercure said as Sobek made adjustments. "I just don't get it."

         "Yes, you do," Marie said. "You just won't admit it."

         "Lot of things we don't admit," Sobek said, strumming with satisfaction. "You remember that song, Biggs, the one we played for Luke that time before we, before we left?"

         "Oh, well, _that_ narrows it down."

         "No, like the night before that night, maybe two nights? Master Skywalker seemed real depressed, I guess because he was trying to talk himself into murdering Ben...."

         "Luke Skywalker would never murder anybody," snapped Eroine, the girl with the glaive, which wobbled alarmingly in her small hands.

         "Yeah, that's what I used to think, too," Mercure said.

         "Everybody's got their moments of weakness, Ero," Sobek said. "Anyway, remember, we tried a new song after dinner to try to cheer him up? And failed miserably? But we liked the song?"

         "Oh," Marie said. "Dah-dah-dah-dah-DAH something covered with gold!"

         "Yeah!" Sobek said. "That one."

         " _That_ one," Mercure said. "I'd forgotten that one. Been years....Remember how we played it so much on the -- when we -- after we left?"

         "Yes," Marie laughed, "and Kylo shouted at you to stop already and never play it again or he'd cut your hands off!"

         "Yeah," Mercure said, adjusting his guitar, "and I never did."

         "Yeah," Marie said, suddenly sad. "Play it again."

         "For you? Okay."

         Sobek strummed a few notes, then looked at Mercure, who was still adjusting. "You're not ready yet? I thought you didn't have to tune yours."

         "I'm not, I'm just programming the percussion."

         Sobek rolled his eyes. "Because anything worth doing is worth overcomplicating, apparently."

         "You should get one of these," Mercure insisted, "the percussion feature is awesome...."

         " _Gawd_ ," Marie said, "I remember this argument. _So well_."

         A drum crashed, and it took Rey a second to realize the sound came from Mercure's guitar.

         "That's amazing, Biggs," she said.

         "See?" Biggs grinned. "The Empress of the Galaxy likes the percussion feature."

         "She likes Ben too," Sobek muttered. "Not an infallible paragon of good taste."

         "Like you're one to talk? C'mon, let's go."

         "You start, I'll come in on 'drank up the wine.'"

         "Oh, fine," Biggs said, strumming, "make _me_ do the hard part." But from the way he smirked and looked sideways at Marie to make sure she was watching, Rey rather thought he was pleased.

         Biggs played a few quick, happy chords and started singing:

         _They made up their minds_

_and they started packing_

_and left before the sun came up that day_

         Sobek closed his eyes and nodded along. Marie watched Biggs play with a small, wistful smile. The children watched, entranced. Even the sullen teenager, Abel, was still and listening.

         _an exit to eternal summer slacking_ , Biggs sang, _but where were they going_

_without ever knowing_

_the way?_

         **_They drank up the wine_** \-- Sobek's deep voice slid in smoothly in under Biggs' clear tenor, his acoustic guitar alongside Biggs' electric one -- **_and they got to talking_**

         Rey watched the two young men, just a few years older than her, lean in towards each other as they sang together. Was this what they had been like at Luke's Temple?

         **_but now had more important things to say_**

         Rey had imagined it as a mirthless place, long days in drab robes sitting on rocks while old Skywalker scowled at infinity and made cutting comments, but maybe Luke hadn't been like that yet. Maybe he'd been kind of fun.

         **_and when the speeder crashed_**

**_they started walking_ **

Maybe they'd sung together around the fire at night, underneath the stars, Luke smiling at his students and nodding his head to the tune. Maybe they'd all been happy together, somehow, before Luke turned on Kylo and Kylo turned on Luke and half of them had murdered the others.

         **_but where were they going without ever knowing the way?_**

         And the song sped up, and the two men's voices were joined by a third, a beautiful, pure soprano....

         **_Anyone can see_**

         It was Marie. She was singing.

**_the road that they walk on is paved in gold_ **

**_and it's always summer, they'll never get cold_ **

**_and never get hungry, never get old and grey_ **

         And then, an even bigger shock, a fourth voice joined in, a woman's rich contralto, and everyone turned to see Kindjal Ren come in:

**_you can see their shadows wandering off somewhere_ **

**_they won't make it home_ **

**_but they really don't care_ **

**_they wanted the highway_ **

**_they're happier there_ **

**_today...._ **

         "Hey," Kindjal said, striding into the hall with ten children behind her.

         "Hey," Biggs answered, putting down his fretboard.

         "Don't stop," begged Marie and a few of the children. The rest of them wandered over to meet the newcomers.

         " _That_ song again." Kindjal chuckled. "Ben would have your hands off, little big man."

         Biggs shrugged. Sobek said, "we haven't heard you sing, Z--Kindjal, since, well, we left."

         "Yeah, I'm rusty."

         "You should sing more," the big man said.

         "Yes," Rey said, then realized she'd broken the spell by reminding them she was there. "Sorry, it's just, that was amazing. You four sing beautifully together. I never expected..."

         "Sith to be musical?" Biggs said.

         "We're not Sith," Marie snapped.

         Rey looked at her, surprised. "No, we're not. We're....something new and better. Does Kylo sing?"

         "Definitely not," Biggs smirked.

         "Ben had a nice voice," Sobek said. "He's just too self-conscious."

         "Fine. Remember it your way, Sobek."

         "My real name," Sobek said, turning to Rey, "is George."

         "Thank you," Rey said. "Jorg."

         Sobek -- George -- sighed. " _George_ ," he said slowly. "Both the g's are soft."

         Rey tried again. "Gordj?"

         "No," Sobek/George said wearily. "It begins and ends in the same sound."

         "No else can pronounce it either," Marie laughed. "Sorry, Jorg."

         "It's not that hard," George said.

         "It's a hella weird name," Biggs said. "Never met a 'dzjorj' before you."

         "Ah, Biggs, that's so close...."

         "George," Kindjal said. "It's George." She made a sarcastic little curtsey to Rey. "And my real name is Zoe, 'n' if it please Your Majesty."

         "Zoe," Rey said. "It pleases me very much."

         "I see everyone's gotten comfy," Kylo Ren drawled from the balcony. Everyone from child to knight to Empress jolted alert. "How sweet."

         He leapt off the balcony -- Rey's heart raced at how beautifully he moved -- and landed in a crouch like a great cat. "Come on, children," he called, standing and looking back the way he'd come, "you can do it."

         Rey looked where he was looking. A group of thoroughly miserable children were peeking over the edge of the balcony.

         "Oh, come on, B--Kylo," Biggs said. "That's not funny."

         "What a fortunate coincidence, then, that I'm not joking." Kylo beckoned to the children. "You're all strong in the Force or I wouldn't have been able to find you in the first place. You _can_ make the jump and you _will_."

         "Kylo..." Kindjal/Zoe said. "It's easily twelve feet, they'll break...."

         "Et tu, Brute?" Kylo snapped before turning back to the children. "Do, or do not. There is no try!"

         "That doesn't make any sense," Rey said.

         "Good to see you too, my darling," Kylo growled. "This is your first _test_ , children. There are _worse_ things in this place than a twelve-foot-fall, I assure you."

         One of the older kids, a pinked-haired girl of maybe thirteen, scrambled onto the railing, let herself down until she was hanging by her fingers -- "Really?" Kylo sneered -- and dropped and hit the floor and rolled.

         "Ow," she said, rubbing her tailbone and the back of her heel. "Ow ow ow."

         "You'll live," Kylo said. "You should try actually _using the Force_ though. Next!"

         "Kylo," Rey said, "this isn't right..."

         "That's true, she should've just trusted her powers and jumped. Come on! _Next_!"

         Another older kid, a boy about 11, slipped over the railing and let go in one smooth movement. He hit the ground lightly -- "Very nice!" Kylo cheered -- but promptly lost his balance and fell over -- "Less nice." Kylo sighed. "But at least we saw some proper use of Force there. Everyone pay attention and be more like -- what's your name, boy?"

         "Anders, sire."

         "Every here can do what Andrews did," Kylo said. "Unless, of course, the Emperor of the Galaxy has made a mistake in choosing you, in which case you might want to get your painful death out of the way as soon as possible."

         "Kylo!" Rey gasped. "That's not funny!"  
         "I'm still not joking," Kylo laughed. "Come on! If you're so afraid of broken bones, I'll come up there and start breaking them for you."

         "Kylo!"

         Another boy leapt down. He actually hovered for an instant in mid-air, but he came down too hard on his right foot and curled up, crying.

         "Boo hoo hoo, you made it. You even had a nice little floaty bit going there. Next!"

         The next child to crawl up on the railing was a skinny little girl, maybe six....

         "Oh, no," Sobek said. "Kylo...."

         "C'mon, sweetie," Kylo sang. "You can do it! Or maybe not but you _are_ going to _fucking_ try, you little _shit_!"

         The little girl let go and _screamed_. She was falling head-first like a rock but suddenly stopped and reversed direction towards the roof. She screamed again and Rey realized that she, Biggs, Marie, and Sobek/Jorg/Jorzj/whatever had all shot out their hands and used the Force to counter gravity at once.

         "I got her!" George said, and the others let go. He took the child gently in the Force and lowered her, sniffling, into his arms.

         "Do you _enjoy_ sabotaging my lesson, Sobek?" Kylo said, turning on him. George was at least six inches taller but he shrank before Kylo, cowering and curling around the little girl protectively. "Do you _enjoy_ undermining my authority?"

         "No, Kylo...."

         "Good." He turned to five children left on the balcony. "No more coddling. Next!"

         "Can we...." The pink-haired girl who jumped first had spoken up, still rubbing her tailbone. "Are we allowed to let the little ones jump last so we can catch them?"

         "An excellent question!" Kylo clapped his hands. "What's your name again?"

         "Amy, Majesty." A sullen bow.

         "Well, A-plus for creativity, Emmy, and if this were a _team-building_ exercise, I'd say yes, but ultimately we stand or fall and ultimately die in the dark alone, so _no_."

         "Yes sire," Amy muttered, stepping back.

         "Next!" Kylo snarled.

         "Kylo," Rey said, almost sobbing, "you can't do this, they're just children, the next one might break their _neck_...."

         "A necessary sacrifice for the greater good," Kylo said, patting her on the cheek. "What use will they be on the battlefield if we coddle them now?"

         "They _should_ be coddled now," Rey said, "because they're _children_."

         "I wasn't," Kylo snarled. " _NEXT_!"

         A little boy jumped and hit the floor with a nasty _crunch_.

         Rey and George were instantly at his side, Biggs just a step behind. "It's okay, it's okay," Rey lied. "Where...."

         "Leg," the boy groaned through his tears. "It's my leg...."

         "We'll build you a better one, just like Darth Vader," Kylo chuckled. "Next!"

         "Kylo...." Rey begged.

         "NEXT!"

         "No."

         _Who said that?_ Rey looked round and saw the black-haired, pasty-faced teenager, Abel, had marched right up to Kylo. "No," the boy repeated. "This is bullshit. _Stop_."

         Every other adult and child held their breath and watched.

         Kylo laughed, shrill and dangerous. "Really? You're telling me to _stop_? I'm the Emperor of the Galaxy, Supreme Leader of the First Order, Master of the Knights of Ren, Heir of Vader, and Killer of Luke Skywalker. Who the hell are _you_?"

         "Abel Beni."

         "Oooh, unfortunate name." Kylo smirked. "You're a ballsy little bastard, aren't you?"

         "Kylo, don't hurt him...." Rey pleaded.

         "I don't need _your_ help," the boy snapped. "I don't need any of you, all five of you so-called grown-ups, useless and scared. He's just another bully. I know how to deal with bullies. I used to be one."

         Kylo stepped sideways and the boy stepped sideways in the opposite direction, so they started circling each other.

         "A-plus for courage, kid," Kylo said. "F-minus for tactics. I'm not just another bully, boy. I'm the biggest, baddest bully in the galaxy."

         Kylo lit his saber.

         "Kylo _no_!" Rey cried.

         "What, you see a grown man, a hardened killer with a laser blade, up against an unarmed, untrained boy, and you think, 'unfair'?" Kylo laughed harshly. "Welcome to life, kid. Lesson Number One: Life is unfair."

         "It's as fair as we can make it," Rey protested.

         "Like I said, life is unfair." Kylo twirled his saber. It hummed evilly. The boy Abel never took his eyes off the blade. "Oh, you see this, boy? You like it?"

         Sullen defiance masking abject terror: "I'm not a boy."

         "Really? Then you'd like a man's weapon? _Catch_!" Kylo switched off his saber and tossed it to Abel, who caught it, almost dropped it, grabbed it true.

         "How do you...." the boy said, fumbling desperately with the hilt controls.

         "Uh-uh! No hints!"

         The blade ignited. Abel jumped but didn't let go.

         "Good, good!" Kylo said. "That feeling welling up inside you, now, that's the sense of power, the possibility of revenge. Keep it close for warmth. Shelter it from the wind. Fan it and feed it until it's big enough to burn me down."

         The boy advanced, holding out the lightsaber before him, poking tentatively at Kylo.

         "Kylo," Rey said, "please, he might hurt himself or someone else...."

         "Not me," Kylo smiled. "Not like that. C'mon, boy! Stop trying to hit me and _hit me_!"

         The boy _yelled_ and charged and swung wildly at Kylo, who danced out of the way and laughed. "Ahahaha! Better, boy, still objectively terrible but _better_. Use your anger!"

         "This is insane," Rey said. "I thought I'd be glad to have you back but you're acting _crazy_."

         "Crazy? _Me_?" Kylo shot a punch at the boy's head, sending him scrambling backwards to dodge. "I prefer 'realistic.' What kind of teacher would I be if I trained them to expect _fairness_ from their enemies, or _mercy_? Now, that's a cruel kind of kindness, to teach them something that will get them killed. Oh ho, good one!" The boy had lunged at Kylo while he was talking and come remarkably close before the dark lord dodged.

         "Kylo, you've made your point," Rey pleaded. "You can stop now."

         "Stop? Our young friend is just getting started!" Kylo dodged another charge and kicked Abel on the butt as he ran past, sending him sprawling and the saber clattering across the floor. "Get up, boy!"

         "Stay down, Abel," Rey said.

         "Like hell, _bitch_ ," Abel spat, standing and grabbing the saber.

         "Hey!" Kylo said, smacking the boy upside the head and sending him winding, saber dangling unlit from his hand. "Nobody talks to my wife that way but me!"

         Kylo threw another punch but the boy dodged and managed to reignite the saber. Kylo scrambled back out of reach.

         "Oh, _very good_ ," he panted. "Really, Rey, he reminds me of _me_ at that age." Abel charged but Kylo's kick swept his legs out from under him. "That's not a good thing."

         "Kylo, he's not you, you're not your father...."

         "Absolutely, my father would never have done _this_ ," Kylo said, kicking the boy in the gut as he tried to get up.

         " _Kylo_!"

         "Nor my mother." Another kick. "Get up, boy!"

         Abel scrambled to his feet, wiping his bloody lip, and reignited the saber.

         "Good, good, what lovely _anger_ ," Kylo said, dodging. "My parents got _angry_ at me all the time, Rey, but they never _used_ it, they never just _let go_ and let me _have it_." He grabbed Abel's hands, twisted them while kneeing him in the gut. The boy dropped the saber and staggered back.

         "Don't give up _now_!" Kylo said, tossing Abel the saber again. "You know, if my parents had just killed me in my sleep, they'd have saved themselves a ton of trouble?"

         "Kylo, _Ben_ , please, that's horrible...."

         Abel feinted high, feinted left, then stabbed straight for Kylo's face. Rey _screamed_ but Kylo just stepped sideways, laughing. "Really good! Now, Uncle Luke, he _almost_ did for me one night, but you know the sad part? He couldn't do it."

         "What." That was Sobek. George.

         "He couldn't bring himself to kill me!" Kylo laughed, kicking Abel in the chest and sending him staggering backwards. "Pathetic old man. I woke to see him standing over me with his saber drawn, I _freaked_ of course and brought the house down on him, but really, an instant later I understood the sad look in his eyes and realized he would _never_ done it. _Never_."

         "That," Biggs said through gritted teeth, "is _not_ what you told us."

         "Of course not." Kylo said, punching Abel in the face, disarming him, then handing the saber back yet again. "Keep trying, kid. Don't speak ill of the dead, and all that -- and I did think he was dead."

         "Don't speak ill..." Kindjal asked, baffled.

         "Who'd want their last moment remembered as one of weakness?" Kylo said as Abel, panting, came at him in a frenzy of fast swings that he dodged as he talked. "The great Jedi Master, disarmed by his own cowardice, and for the second time, just like when he spared his father!"

         Kylo kicked Abel in the knee -- there was a nasty cartilaginous _crunch_ and the boy went down -- and said: "He should have killed me."

         "Kylo!" Rey screamed. "You're going to kill him!"

         "Who, this kid?" Abel, on the floor in tears, flailed wildly with the saber, but Kylo just jumped over it. "Well, let's see. He was brave, he was determined, he was skilled beyond his years...." Kylo grabbed Abel's wrist, twisted it until something snapped, and took back his lightsaber. "...and in the end, it all means _nothing_."

         Kylo raised his saber for the killing blow. " _Here endeth the lesson_."

         "No!" Rey roared.

'        The red blade swung down.

         The blue blade swung up to meet it.

         For an instant, Kylo stared at Rey over their crossed sabers, shocked and hurt, a wounded little boy again.

         Then he smiled bitterly. "Ah, my love, I knew this day would come."

         "It doesn't _have_ to," Rey said, and she pushed him -- she and her _children_ pushed him with the Force, sending him skidding across the floor into the wall.

         She turned to Abel. "Run!" The boy, sobbing, scrambled to his feet.

         She turned to the four knights, standing stunned. "Help him!" They didn't move. She could feel her babies calling out to them too. "Help _us_!"

         "You think they'll _help_ you?" Kylo laughed and spat out a bloody tooth as he picked himself up from the floor. "You'll appeal to their sense of _mercy_ , maybe? Or common _decency_?" He relit his saber. "Oooh, try to appeal to _friendship_ , that'll be a _laugh_ , they turned on friends they'd lived with for _years_ and murdered them, I'm sure they'll lay down their lives for someone they met last month!"

         He lunged. Rey parried, and as she parried, she wept. "Kylo, something's broken inside you...."

         " _Really_?" He slashed at her. "Do you _think_?"

         "You're not thinking clearly...."

         "No, no, no no no no nonono, I haven't been thinking clearly since Snoke's throne room -- _I_ killed Snoke by the way, guys...."

         "We figured," Kindjal muttered.

         "...but after a couple weeks away from your mushy half-measures, I'm _finally_ seeing straight again!" He swung and scorched her left shoulder, slicing neatly through the clothing and the skin beneath, no further. She screamed. Her babies screamed. Kylo sighed. "Damn, that was a Syndule Lestrak jacket, too." He clicked his tongue. "What-a-waste."

         "You're worried about my _jacket_?" Rey said incredulously, backing away and wriggling her shoulder to check the muscles were intact. "And that's your idea of _clarity_?"

         "I love you, Rey," Kylo said, lunging again -- she barely parried -- "but you need _help_. You're a beautiful butterfly stuck halfway out of your cocoon, a glorious cobra still dragging around her old shed skin. _Let go_!"

         "I already let go of _everything_ for you!" she screamed and charged. He backed off, parrying frantically. "The Resistance! Finn! Leia! Luke! My _soul_! But I can't let you murder _children_!"

         "Ha, _excellent_ anger," Kylo said, beating her blade aside and then kicking her in the stomach. " _Use it!_ Love's a pure metal, weak and brittle unless alloyed with _hate_."

         Rey picked herself up, cradling her belly -- _be alive, be alive, be alive_ , she begged her babies, and they were, whimpering feebly in the dark. She looked at the others: the children cowering in the corners, the Knights of Ren apparently frozen still. "Fine," she muttered, drying her tears. "Just fine."

         She turned to Kylo. "I'm afraid, Ben..."

         " _That man is dead._ "

         "I'm afraid if I let go of my limits and unleash my power against you -- I'll _kill_ you."

         Kylo smiled a smile of pure self-loathing. "About time _someone_ did."

         "It won't be me," she said. She turned off her saber and tossed it aside.

         Kylo looked at her with shock and disgust. "What do you think you're..."

         "I am a Jedi," Rey said, "like your uncle and grandfather before me. Just as your children yet unborn will be. I will not fight you, Ben. I love you."

         She held out her hand.

         "Please," she whispered. "Ben, it's not too late."

         Kylo Ren stared at her for a long moment, his red lightsaber crackling forgotten in his black-gloved hand.

         "You think," he whispered at last, "that there's still good in me?"  
         "Yes. I do."

         "May be there is," he said.

         Then he cut her hand off. She didn't even have time to scream before he kicked her in the chest and sent her, breathless, to the ground.

         "But in the end, my dear, it all means _nothing_ ," Kylo said. He raised his saber. "Let's try this again, boys and girls: Here endeth the lesson...."

         " _No_ ," Marie said, blocking Kylo's red blade with her own. " _You_ _will not touch her_. _"_

         Rey dragged herself away with one good hand as Marie held off Kylo.

         "Really, Moira?" Kylo snarled, shoving her back. "I would've expected you to crawl into the empty space in my bed while it was still warm."

         "My name," she panted, "is _Marie Naberrie_."

         "What, isn't it _handmaiden_? Isn't your place down on the _floor_ , with the _dogs_?" He beat her lightsaber aside with his own, then kicked her legs out from under her.

         "That's better," he growled, stomping on her slim right wrist before she could raise her saber. "On the floor, on your _back_ , _beneath_ me, isn't that where you always _wanted_ to be?" He pointed his blade at her. "Look, I'll even _penetrate_ you."

         " _No_ ," Biggs shouted as he reached out for Marie and yanked her towards him with the Force. Kylo's blade slashed the floor where she had lain as she skidded across the room and into Biggs' arms.

         She kissed him. "I love you," she said, crying.

         "I know," he said. "Let's do this."

         They lit their sabers and advanced into battle side by side.

         "Moira and Mercure, overthrowing the master," Kylo smirked, parrying them both. "I never thought you had it in you, little guy."

         "My name is Biggs Antilles," Biggs said, "and you? You're kind of an asshole."

         Kylo laughed. "Kind of?" he said. "Try 'completely.' That's why I'll _win_." He swung high with his saber and as Biggs went to parry, Kylo _slammed_ him with the Force and sent him sprawling.

         "Biggs!" Marie screamed as she frantically blocked Kylo's saber, and then another Force push sent _her_ flying.

         " _Another_ pair of young lovers?" Kylo sneered. "We have one in this story already, do something original." He advanced on the two as they helped each other up. "Well, at least you'll get to _die_ together. For _love_."

         "Don't underestimate love," George said, blocking his way. His hands were empty and his lightsaber unlit. "It makes people do a lot of stupid things."

         "Really, Sobek...." Kylo said.

         "I'm George."

         "Right, like anyone can even pronounce that. Get out of the way, you lummox."

         " _Lummox_?" Biggs muttered.

         "I never believed Luke Skywalker tried to kill you," George said.

         "Then why," Kylo laughed, "did you follow us into exile?"

         "Because I loved Ben Solo."

         Kylo went rigid. " _That man is dead_."

         "I know," George said, and lit his saber. "C'mon, kids," he said to Biggs and Marie as they came up on either side of him. "Let's do what we should've done on that last night at the Temple."

         The three of them charged Kylo. He stopped their combined frontal attack with a flurry of quick parries, but then they spread out to the sides and he had to fall back to keep from being encircled. He kept parrying and dodging and stepping backwards, towards where Kindjal Ren stood frozen.

         "Kindjal!" Kylo called out. "Power! Freedom! Revenge! Remember what we signed up for and _help_ me, dammit!"

         "My name," she said, "is Zoe." She lit her blade and charged him.

         "Aww, _crap_ ," Kylo said and _threw_ his saber at the others -- it somehow stayed lit as it spun overhead, handily missing Biggs and Marie but nearly decapitating George.

         "You threw away your only weapon?" Biggs snarked. "Really smart."

         "Not only," Kylo said. Then blue lighting crackled from his fingers and shot out in all directions.

         The four former Knights of Ren blocked the onslaught with their sabers. They _tried_. They didn't burn at once, but the sheer hateful power of it slowly forced them to their knees.

         " _Look what you made me do_ ," Kylo seethed, dark side energy pouring through his body and out his splayed fingers. "Now I'll have to murder _everybody_."

         "Nope," the girl Amy said, grabbing Zoe's shoulder and adding her strength to hers.

         "Not. Gonna. Happen!" shouted Abel, limping up to grab Biggs' shoulder.

         "Yeah!" growled the other children -- not all of them, some were still cowering, but enough, and as they ran up to the four knights and touched them, they began to push Kylo's lightning back.

         " _Traitors_ ," Kylo seethed, his fingers beginning to smoke. " _Scum_."

         "You're wrong," Rey said, pulling herself painfully to her feet. "We're not. We're something new and better."

         "Rey...." Kylo said, his hair catching on fire. "Please...."

         " _No_." Light side energy welled up from the stump of her right wrist. She and the children inside her and the children outside her _roared_ as one, and they blew Kylo Ren away.

 

***

 

_Kylo_

         He could hear beeping.

         Was he awake? Was he alive? He couldn't tell at first, and his limbs seemed numb and distant. If he was now another miserable ghost, he'd haunt Rey until she withered and died....

         "Arise, Lord Kylo," said an icy, imperious voice.

         Rey's voice.

         Kylo opened his eyes and saw her. "You're alive," he croaked.

         "Yes," she said. "You failed."

         "I'm sorry," he rasped.

         "That you tried to kill me?" She clenched her right hand into a fist, servos grinding in the mechanical joints. "Or that you didn't?"

         "Yes." Hell, his voice was hoarse.

         "I thought as much. Biggs?"

         "He's holding steady," came the little man's voice from somewhere over Kylo's shoulder. "If he gets up now, they probably won't come off."

         Kylo tried to tell his limbs to move but nothing happened. "I can't... I can't really feel my arms and legs."

         "Ooops," Mercure said. "Told you we were dialing down the sensitivity too far."

         "Go ahead," Rey sighed.

         Mercure Ren -- Biggs now, Kylo supposed -- fiddled with something and Kylo's limbs _exploded_ into his awareness in a burst of pain. "Oh God...." he gasped.

         "It's a little late for prayer," Moira Ren -- no, _Marie_ \-- said, coming up alongside Mercure/Biggs. "You're already mostly dead."

         "We should have let him die," said Kindjal -- Zoe -- from somewhere he couldn't see.

         "There'd have been a civil war," grumbled Sobek. Jorg. Djorshz. Whatever. "Another one. This isn't mercy, Kylo. Quite the opposite."

         "This is _pragmatism_ ," Leia Organa said.

         " _Mother_?" Kylo said, trying to turn his head to see.

         "I'm still officially a prisoner," Leia Organa said, shuffling into his line of sight. "Appearances matter. That's why we need you, Kylo Ren, and your unmasked face: to maintain the illusion the Heir of Vader is still in control while we reform the Empire from within."

         Leia looked warily at Rey. "I honestly doubt that will work, but my alternative 'burn it all down' plan was outvoted five to one, and they have lightsabers. So we're keeping you on as a figurehead."

         "No more than that?" he croaked.

         "You can give me no more children," Rey said coldly. "Your own dark lightning burned _that_ possibility away. And you will never touch my skin again."

         "Okay," Kylo said, feeling strangely peaceful. "I deserve that."

         "But you will live to know your children. Pray they never know the real you."

         "That's...." He nodded. "That's more than I deserve."

         "Ben Solo deserved much better," Rey said, suddenly sad. "But you, Kylo Ren, you'll live in the hell you have built for yourself. Get up."

         He stood, slowly, pain stabbing in his stumps, servos grinding in his new, mechanical limbs. "All four?" he said, looking at the black leather that now covered everything below his neck.

         "Both arms, both legs," Biggs said. "Just like Granddad."

         Kylo laughed, a hollow rasping sound from ravaged lungs. "Just when I'd outgrown wanting to be like him...."

         "Yes, dramatic irony," Leia said, averting her eyes, "we're well aware."

         Rey looked up at him -- he was still _taller_ , at least. "You'll be like Vader in another way, as well," she said. "You'll be my chief enforcer, my shadow in the valley of death, my necessary evil."

         "And you'll be Emperor?"

         "Well, they'll still call _you_ that -- but yes."

         Kylo fell to one knee before her. "At last," he laughed hoarsely, "I've found my place in life, or death, or living death, whatever this is...." He raised one arm in salute. "Hail Lady Rey! Hail the Empress!"

         "Yes," she said. "Hail Empress Rey."


End file.
